The Misty Fire
by Punk19
Summary: Angel Irene now has five sons to take care of and protect and with her father, the feared Master Vile, taking over North and South America she feels depressed over not being able to help anyone. She and her sons settle in Germany for a little while before the entire Surfeit clans discovers them, will they remain safe or are they to be captured and taken off the planet again?
1. Part 1

If one wanted to see streets full of hookers and whores that carried all manner of disease they'd go to one of the big-time cities that's history had always been pretty wild. If one wanted to see wagons being pulled by horse or cow that carried hay bales of bushels of apples or even big, burlap bags that either contained oats or that year's harvest of potatoes they'd go to Pennsylvania, a state located on the North American continent that was way across the Atlantic Ocean and if one wanted to see a street that's buildings on either side that's outer walls had been used as as the muralists canvass they'd go to that good, old city known as Richmond that was located in the state of Virginia, another state on the North American continent. The street that the pink flowers that fell on only to be blown away by that late July 30th day had none of them things on it. You wouldn't see a hooker wearing fishnet pantyhose and a skimpy dress or skirt that barely left anything to the imagination and a shirt that's top was so low that the breasts that were contained inside were nearly hanging out for everyone to see. You wouldn't see a horse-drawn buggy with a cheerful, old farmer that wore biballs and who had a straw hat placed atop his near bald head and you definitely wouldn't see a muralists work painted on the outer walls of a building.

The street of Lessings, which was located in Baden-Baden, Germany, was just as clean as the rest of the streets in the country. So clean that one would probably have the thought of eating a meal off of it, there was not a shred of trash on it, whether of the hooker kind or of the casually thrown paper or cigarette butt, and it was sparklingly beautiful. Even in the fading light of that July 30th day the street shown, the sidewalk on either sides of it had no cracks or holes in it and there was not a single hint of potholes throughout the dark gray surface of the road. If someone walked by smoking a cigarette they'd make damn sure that, after the tobacco had been used up within the paper, the remains were placed safely on their person until a trash can could be reached. If a baby dropped a bottle or a cookie it would be swiftly collected and if some person dropped a piece of paper or a plastic cup or even had one of them good, ol', hissy fits and happened to throw something down it was swiftly picked up afterwards. At the moment, people were either on their way to their cars or their mopeds so they'd go home after clocking out for the day from their jobs or were walking along with their bags held in hands that were either young, middle-aged or old. What was he doing on this fine day of July 30th of the year 4100? Why, he was doing one of them age-old things that had kept him there in Germany. He was participating in what he believed was his destiny.

There were many types of destiny out there in the world. There was the kind that one would make by doing something. There was the kind that one knew was coming but just simply waited for patiently while doing their normal day routines. There was the destiny that came to one after a good or bad deed was made and there was the destiny that was barely noticed, a destiny that happened but wasn't seen until the last possible moment. His kind of destiny he firmly believed spawned from waiting and he had pretty much waited for it to happen for near thirty-seven years. Even when he had been a short, scrawny, kid five years of age he had known that he had a purpose in life and he had sort of waited for that purpose, that reason to be alive so he could serve his purpose, his destiny.

Who was he? Why, Arnold Heiberg that's who! A five foot, nine and a half-inch man that had very blond hair and very brown eyes set in a face that was long. His family had started out as German long before the American continent had been discovered and they had remained German for most of the America's known existence until Leopold Heiberg had decided to move him and his new wife, Anneliese Kahler, to New York City, located in the North American state of New York. The Heiberg family had sort of gone American afterwards, a lot of their blooded stock had married and bred with the Americans to introduce American blood into the line until there had been very little German left in them. By the time that the monsters had invaded California and the planet had been nearly conquered by one very mean and nasty monster conqueror the Heiberg's had been 99% American. Just before the planet's doom had happened a heroine had acted, the monster conqueror's daughter had taken it upon herself to save the planet and keep it safe. While doing so his ancestors had asked her if she could use one of her ground flipping moves to move them to Germany and she had graciously done so.

The move had been fine and dandy at first, the then-American Heiberg's had liked Germany and Europe just fine then the continent of North America had called. Most of his family had moved back except for a small unit of two men and three women, they couldn't afford the move so they had stayed in Germany for the rest of their lives. Through the years his family had met with tough times, plagues and natural disasters had claimed many, the American branch of the Heiberg's had nearly been wiped out while the freshly returned German blood in the ones that had stayed in Germany had been hit even harder. Out of thirty Heiberg's only four survived all them plagues to continue the line into the future and he happened to be the descendant of them lucky four persons in his family that had survived all them horrors that had happened.

He had gone off to college after graduating from high school, had gotten a diplom, the German form of a diploma, in computer science and then in Arts in Political Science and Government but, for some reason, them diplomas didn't seem to click well with him. He had appreciated his parents sending him to college but, in the end, them diplomas had just collected dust. He had felt the job of being a real estate person pulling at him and he had gone for it, he had been showing homes and looking homes up and mostly sitting behind a desk since the decision. His former wife, who he had one kid with, had wanted to leave Germany for some other place in the world, and he had, sadly, hurt her heart by saying he wanted to stay in Germany. That destiny had said that he was needed to be here, for some reason he couldn't leave. His wife had left him, had taken the kid and then had filed for divorce. She was now married to another man and had four other kids, he had not seen his kid by her in a long time now. He had lost two other women because of his need to stay in Germany to carry out his destiny, he had seen two other kids be born then be taken away from him and he had seen his family shake their heads time and again at him. He just couldn't leave, he felt his destiny was here, in good, ol', Germany and he had a feeling that his destiny was about to be noticed.

"How's the search going?" the woman that sat on the other end of his desk asked him.

"Going slowly, ma'am. I'm looking for a good apartment for you and your sons to move into." he replied. "So far what I've found isn't good enough. Too small for you and your sons or too run-down. We want you in a good, safe, healthy apartment not something that's about ready to be torn down."

No real estate person wanted to give someone a run-down house to live in, normally people would come in saying that they wanted to find a good home to live in but there were the people that wanted a fixer upper as well, he had sold a few of them types of homes in his career but, mostly, he worked to find good, healthy and safe homes for family's to look at and buy. After he had seen this lady that was sitting on the other side of his desk he had rushed forward. He had staked his claim on her, had introduced himself then he had led her to his desk. This fine, beautiful, lady had asked for him to do a search on a simple, low-cost, apartment and he had started doing that, he had stopped doing that search after she had explained her situation.

She was a single mother, a very beautiful woman who he was surprised was allowed to leave the house much less go about without a bodyguard. Her hair was long, it was a fiery red that cast a glow off of the walls and carpet in his small office. Her eyes were lovely, a beautiful emerald-green that had a single, golden-yellow ring around black pupils. She was trim, had a nice, petite figure that was very feminine in appearance. Her breasts were big, if he had to guess they were around the 40-cup range, but they did not throw her appearance off one, single, bit. She stood about five foot, seven inches tall, a tall woman which was nice, had honey-colored skin and a heart-shaped face. He liked tall women with good, strong bodies. She was wearing a green shirt that's short sleeves were faded in some areas and she had a pair of dark green jeans on. He had seen the white tennis shoes that she was wearing then his eyes had been drawn to the one piece of jewelry that she was wearing.

It was a nicely shaped ring, a ring appropriately sized for her ring finger and she wore it proudly. There was an oval aquamarine gem set beautifully between three rows of diamonds on the band of the ring. The top row of the diamond's that went around the oval, aquamarine gem had vanilla diamonds on it while the two other rows had chocolate diamonds on them. The ring sparkled lovely, he had only to look at it to know that the woman took very good care of it. This was no ring that one would buy from any, old jewelry store for $50 or even $100, this ring he would bet his eye teeth would have had a price tag of over $500 on it. The ring looked very at-home on the woman's ring finger, it looked almost like it had a little post on it that said it belonged on that finger.

She had said soon after taking a seat in the dark brown, leather chair that was in front of his wooden office desk that had a computer, a red, blue and green striped glass that had pens and pencils in it, a pencil sharpener, a stapler and a triple stack, mesh material, organizer on its surface that she was looking for an apartment. He had asked his questions to help the process along. They had been simple questions like; how many rooms, a two-level or one, front yard or no, front yard and back and, of course, the major question: what price range was she looking for. She had said a three bedroom apartment, an upstairs/downstairs and it had to have a front and back yard. She said she only had $12,222 on her to spend which said she was serious. He had started looking for the apartment soon after she had answered his question and he had stopped looking for that apartment soon after starting it. The reason for this was simple enough; the woman had said that she had five sons, that would mean that she was looking for a small apartment to move a large family of six into which, to him, was absurd. Five boys all cramped into a three-bedroom apartment was just asking for trouble and, since he knew who he was talking to and since he knew of how important she was and how much the people of Earth appreciated her, he had stopped the search for the apartment. He had excused himself for one minute, he had said to her that he was going to go check the printer to see if it was running as it should and she had said okay. The printer in the corner office three doors from his office was running fine, he knew he didn't need to check to see if it had ink or enough paper in it, he knew that it was fine. What he had done was go straight to the room across from his to make a phone call to Stefan Leinart, the current president of Germany.

"From the administration of the main building of the Chancellery we say hello, how may I be of service to you?" a lady had asked.

"I need to speak with Mr. Stefan Leinart at once please." he had said. "very important that I speak with him at once."

"Sir, I am afraid I cannot allow that unless you have an appointment. Mr. Leinart is a very busy man." the woman had replied.

"I suggest you let me speak with him. I have a very important client that I think he should meet." he had said back.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, sir." the lady had said, he had explained his situation quickly, he had told her who he had in his office and why she was in his office then he had gone quiet. The lady on the other line had also gone quiet for a few seconds then she had said for him to hold on.

It had taken a short while, five minutes in full for Stefan Leinart to answer the phone, he had been so nervous that he had barely been able to speak. His client had patiently waited for him, she had not left his office which was good, he would have seen her leave his office should she of decided that the wait was taking too long. He had explained the situation to Mr. Leinart, he had told him that he had the heroine herself, Angel Irene, the daughter of the horrid monster conqueror that had somehow gotten into the shields that had kept him out of the cities and towns of North and South America, in his office and that she was looking for a three-bedroom apartment to more her family into which consisted of herself and five boys. Mr. Leinart had said for him to keep her in his office as long as he could, he had said for him to look up houses for the woman and he had asked him to do all that he could to keep her in his office until he got there. The conversation that he had had with Stefan Leinart had ended near twenty minutes ago, he was starting to worry and wonder if the man was coming at all.

He had gone back to his office, had closed the door then he had gone straight to sitting behind his desk. He had exited out of the search for the apartment and had started a new search for a house that had more than four rooms in it. So far, all that he had found were not good enough. The rooms were either too small or the house needed repairs or the yard in the front or back was too small. He was also looking at the neighborhoods that the houses belonged in, he did not want his client and her family to move into a bad area. She had five sons to care for and look after, he was sure that she didn't want to be worried to a frazzle about some thievin' punks or some gangsters hurting her precious babies. The fact that she had five sons now instead of four had been a shock to him, ten months before, when she had been living in a small town named Green River that was in the state of Wyoming located in North America she had had four sons. She had gone missing for near four months then she had suddenly shown up again in a small town in Colorado, another state located in North America. The papers had listed four children with her, not five but four. In one of the newspaper articles it had been said that she and four of them five sons of hers had been taken captive by one of the aliens that had shown up near Green River, Wyoming so, it was quite possible, that one of them five sons of hers was an infant.

The papers had not made mention of what had happened during her and her sons captivity, either she had not told the horrible facts or she had told but the people writing the stories had omitted them out. If an infant had been born he feared that she had been raped, it had happened before with her. She had been raped by that brute of a father of hers that was now in North America, taking over that continent and it's lower continent, South America. The best thing was that she was back and, what was even greater, she looked in great shape. If she had recently given birth then she held the record for the world's fastest post-pregnancy weight loss, she was in great shape. There was no baby bump and there were no signs of fatigue to her. He figured that, if she had recently given birth, that baby would be around a month to two months old by now.

"Where are your boys, ma'am?" he asked, he figured that another way to keep her in his office was to get her to talk. Women loved talking about their kids, after all, so he latched onto that subject.

"Brenners Park, probably sitting under a tree or sitting around a campfire." the lady replied. "They're all good kids, not a one has done anything bad in their lives."

"Where have you and they been staying these past six months, Miss. Irene?" he asked.

"In caves," she replied. "we started living in medium-sized caves in the parks of North America near civilization. We've been living in medium-sized caves in Africa, Egypt and Europe now for a little over a month now, the boys enjoy it. They enjoy the wildlife and the chance to hunt and fish."

"They good huntsmen and fishermen, ma'am?" he asked.

"Mmhmmm," the woman nodded her head. "taught them all myself, they all are very good hunters and fishermen. Been keeping me busy cooking the meat that they bring home and the fish that they catch. They take care of the pelts and any other trophies they wish to keep."

"I bet they make you a very proud mumma. Bet they have a lot of trophies from them hunts." he said.

"Of course, I'm very proud of each of my boys. They all get along great, they do fight but only in a normal way and, yes, they do have a lot of hunting trophies." the woman smiled a proud smile. "I can't see myself without them, even sitting here I wish to be with them."

"The mummy instinct is strong in you, I like that." he said back.

When she said that she couldn't be without her sons and that she wanted to be with them now he started to really up his search. He took her saying that as a sign that she was wanting to get out of his office and, since he didn't want that to happen until Mr. Leinart showed up, he both started looking up homes faster and he started thinking up further questions to keep her there. Here was a four bedroom house that had a good lot of land around it that was near a park, he decided to send that house's information to the printer then he resumed his search. Here was another house that had five bedrooms, two full bath's and a nice front and back yard that was near a town, he liked that one quite a lot so he sent that house's information to the printer. Here was another house that had four bedrooms in it, a bath and a half and a nice back yard but a small front yard, he debated on that house for a few seconds then he sent that house's information to the printer. Although she had said nothing on the fifth child of hers he figured that, although he would be sleeping in his mother's room for a short while before needing a room of his own. As he searched for the houses, looked over their details then either sent their information to the printer or bypassed them for some issue that he thought his client was above he'd look at his wrist watch. Twenty minutes had turned into half an hour, Stefan Leinart had said he for him to keep his client there, that he'd be there soon, how soon was soon? Here his client was talking about how much she wanted to be back with her sons and there was no Stefan Leinart coming into the building.

Stefan Leinart was a nice man, he had won the presidency of Germany in a landslide by promising to keep everything fair and just and by promising to be a fair and just leader and, so far, near six months after he had won his campaign, he was holding them promises up. He had gotten several parks cleaned and repaired, several national landmarks had been repaired on his behalf and he had personally paid out from his own pocket the cost of repairing what needed to be repaired in several airports. He had upped the pay for minorities, had increased workplace benefits and he had also dropped several silly, not-needed, taxes. Stefan Leinart was smart, kind and he was married to an equally kind woman who had birthed him three children, two daughters and one son. They lived modestly and they didn't flaunt their cash even though they were loaded with it.

"So, why is it that you're choosing to change you and your sons' living conditions?" he asked.

"Just time for a change, they need a little civilized living now." the woman replied. "They'll still do plenty of hunting and fishing but they do need to be around people and civilization. I do not want them to get wild."

"Cave living easy?"

"Can be right tedious. Have to boil water to make sure it's healthy to drink or cook with, have to make sure the food's cooked well or someone will get very sick with a parasite and you have to watch out for them predators." the woman replied. "We've had a few instances were wild cats have come into a cave we've resided in. A lion tried pulling one of my younger sons clear out of one of the caves we lived in while we were residing in Africa."

"Was he okay afterwards?" he asked, suddenly very interested and alarmed at the same time.

"Had a few bite marks on his foot but he was fine. He was scared to death to sleep at night for a week afterwards." the woman replied.

"Did he get any infections or anything on that foot that was bitten by the lion?"

"No, I used one of my healing powers to take care of the wound. He walked around with a slight limp afterwards for a few days. He walks fine now."

"How long ago did that happened?"

"Two weeks ago."

As he clicked his mouse to go on in his search for a good house for his client, the one that he had just looked at had a pool in the back yard but the house was over a hundred years old and it was very well-known that them types of houses had quite a lot of issues with them, he thought about the attack that his client had just told him about. He could just imagine it, she and her sons all smuggled up against each other or sleeping against the wall of the cave that they had decided to live in when, all of a sudden, a man-eating lion wandered in. He imagined the man-eater walking stealthily along, sniffing and then taking in the situation that was in front of him then lunging forward for one of the sleeping beings that had no clue as to its being with them in their resident cave. He could see the young son be grabbed in the man-eater's teeth then ripped out from his sleeping spot, maybe the lion had dragged him almost out of the cave or had only gone a few feet when the sleeping mother, his client, had sprang out at it to save her defenseless offspring. There could have been a nasty fight between the two, between man and beast or, quite possibly his client had used one of her powers as she could transform into some magnificent, fiery red, animals, for the boy's safety. The lion might well of been killed by his client or, quite possibly, just ran off after it couldn't take more abuse from the mother that was defending her offspring from the danger that had tried to claim him.

He knew that there were some that lied about such things as fierce man-killers that tried to steal off a human, whether adult or child, in the night but, he knew also that his client was very trustworthy so he knew that what she had just told him was real and true. People lied about man-killers to make up stories, to make themselves look like Hercules but there were historical recordings of such attacks having occurred. There was the recording of the Tsavo Man-Eaters that had been responsible of the deaths of many construction workers in Kenya, Africa in the year 1898. They had both been taken down by Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson twenty days apart. There were recordings of Leopard's taking both adult and children in India in the early twentieth century and there were also recordings of Jaguars and Snow Leopards and Cougars even turning to become man-eaters.

It didn't just stop there, there were many reports of primates also preying upon humans. He had seen the shows on the tube that was in his apartment about Baboons taking infants from their parents shacks and about Chimpanzees attacking adult and children for no reason and there were also the reports of crocodiles and alligators snatching people straight out from their canoes or from fishing on the banks of rivers. Wolves and bears had also been reported as attacking and then consuming human beings. His client was lucky, she could of well lost her young son to that lion and that young son of hers was lucky to not have a wound that could have turned deadly. Although most animals kept to their roots in eating prey appropriate for them, there were cases where an animal went into hunting humans after something had happened to hinder it from hunting its usual prey. Prime example of that; the Leopard of Gummalapar, it had been found to have two Indian Porcupine quills lodged between its toes on its right foreleg. That would have stopped it from hunting its natural, swift prey. Another example; the Leopard of the Yellagiri Hills, it had been old, it's teeth and claws had been worn down pretty bad so it couldn't hunt and take down its natural prey. The Leopard of the Central Provinces was a special case, it had been noted as having no issues at all to hinder it from hunting its natural prey.

"How's that search coming along?" his client asked him again, this time he heard the notes of both being impatient and nervous come out in her voice.

"Very good, ma'am. I've found several apartments for you and your sons." he answered, he then stood up. "I sent all that I've found to the printer, I'll be only a second."

"Okay, thank you." the woman replied.

He left his office, went straight to the printer to get what he had sent to it which was only six houses then he went straight to the office that he had called the Chancellery near forty minutes before. He had just grabbed the doorknob when, from the corner of his eye, he saw a jovial man that had a youthful face despite being in his early fifties coming down the hallway towards him. He turned his head and saw, to his disbelief, that the man that was walking towards him was none other than the new president of his resident state of Germany, Stefan Leinart. The man wore a black tuxedo with notched lapels on it that were right shiny and black shoes. He had a brown coat lying across his arm that looked rather expensive. Stefan Leinart, despite being fifty-three years of age, had a headful of orange-brown hair and hazel eyes set in a round face that had high cheek bones in it. Mr. Stefan Leinart walked briskly up to him, grabbed him by his shoulder then pulled in close, so close that he actually thought the man was about to slap a kiss on his cheek which was revolting to him as he was fully straight. The clean smell that the man had to him leaped out at him, the smell of mothballs seeped into his nostrils, he nearly coughed twice because of that smell but he controlled himself. The man who had been Germany's president for only six months asked him one question and he answered it, after he did so he respectfully walked around the man then led him to his office. The door was closed, he had done so to give his client some privacy and, hopefully, so she'd stay in the room. He grabbed the knob of his door, twisted it then pushed the door in. His client sat upright after seein him and Mr. Leinart walk into the room, she got a feared look in her emerald-green eyes that was swiftly replaced with defensive anger.

"Whatever's going on I want no part of it." his client said sternly, she stood up from the chair then started walking towards him and Mr. Leinart.

"Miss. Irene, I mean you no harm. I'm only here to help you in your and your sons' time of need." Stefan Leinart said, he said it so calmly, he spoke as he would to one of his children when they were scared or upset. "Mr. Heiberg, here, tells me you are looking to reside here in my state. My name's Stefan Leinart, I'm the president of Germany and I wish to only help you and your sons get settled in becoming citizens of this nation."

She stood before them, eyes flashing, darting between them both, looking to see if they were dangerous or benevolent. To Arnold Heiberg she looked as the teenage folks would often say, drop dead gorgeous. To Stefan Leinart, she looked beautiful but on alert and that meant trouble could happen. He had seen the papers, had heard the news on both the tube and on the radio, this woman's father was really creating havoc across the Atlantic for all human and animal life. Over two thousand, two hundred and one years ago she had put pink shields over the cities and towns to protect the people that dwelled within them, them shields had come down a few times but she had always been there to replace them. She had disappeared one thousand, six hundred and one years ago after her second son had reached the age of nine months, no one had known where she was and it had been presumed that the monsters that had been pursuing her had captured her. That presuming had proved true because, one thousand, six hundred and one years ago, when she had returned to Earth, the place of her birth and raising, she had had four little ones, two that were walking and talking and two that were infants. She had maintained the shields, had fixed a few up then she had disappeared again for a while, presumably to take care of them four little ones that she had. She had not been seen for quite a long time, over two hundred years, then she had appeared suddenly in the state of Oklahoma, which was on the North American continent, with all four of her sons. She had stayed there for a short while then, for some reason, she had moved far north. She had taken her sons and had gone to live in Canada for a right long time then, three hundred and twenty years ago, she and her sons had all moved to a little place called Green River, a city that had turned to being a town after all the plagues and natural disaster had occurred that was in the state of Wyoming on the North American continent. She and her sons had stayed there up to ten months ago, she and her four boys had disappeared in somewhere before December of 4099 after their apartment had gone up in a plume of green smoke.

It had been speculated that, due to the apartments age, there had been a gas leak that had made it explode. The apartment was pretty old, he had read the newspaper articles that had claimed that the apartment where Miss. Irene and her four sons had resided in for over three hundred years was already over a hundred years old, Miss. Irene had found it one day in New York state then had done something with her magic to make it appear in Wyoming state. For some odd reason, most of the state of Wyoming had been evacuated because of radiation after the apartment had exploded, several counties in the state of Colorado, a state located underneath the state of Wyoming, had also been evacuated as well as a precaution. Although the apartment exploding and the radiation alerts in Wyoming and Colorado had been a shock, everyone had been more concerned about the disappearance of Miss. Irene and her four sons.

Questions had been asked to the people that she had known at the time and to the people that had lived in the area that she and her sons had resided in for over three hundred years, not much had been found until the investigators had spoken to some of the people that she had worked with. It had been discovered that her monstrous family had shown up two months before, some issues had been encountered with them and, curiously, Miss. Irene and her four sons had disappeared at just the same time that the aliens and monsters that were in her family had left the planet. Miss. Irene had stopped coming into work a week before her apartment exploded so it was highly thought that she had been taken by her alien and monster family. There had been some who had thought that they had died in the explosion, some people had said that they had seen Miss. Irene or one of her sons and then there were the others that had tried to claim Miss. Irene. For four months she had been deemed missing then she had appeared mysteriously in a town in Colorado. It had been just her, she had not had any of her sons with her. She had been questioned about her disappearance and the original assumption that she had been taken captive by her monster and alien family had been verified.

Curiously, the newspapers when they had published their reports on Miss. Irene's sudden reappearance and of being fully healthy and safe had said that she was "back on the planet, safe and sound, with all five of her sons who were also in good, sound, health". Although Arnold Heiberg believed that his client had a new infant son to look after, Stefan Leinart thought otherwise. He had checked the newspaper articles from the months prior to her disappearance and not a one mentioned her giving birth to a fifth child, a new son. He figured that it was a misprint, a fluke in the newspaper system. Someone had gotten too excited and had added the number 5 to her number of sons. She had been gone for only four months, she and her sons had been missing for only four months, she would not have come back to the planet with a newborn that had only been in her for four months.

"What is it you wish to help me out with, Mr. Leinart?" Angel Irene asked. "I came here asking for help in finding an apartment for my sons and I to reside in."

"How many rooms in this apartment was you looking to have?" Stefan Leinart asked.

"Two or three, has to have two bathrooms in it."

"With due respect, Miss. Irene, an apartment is much too small for a family of five to live in." Stefan Leinart replied after nodding his head after she had told him what she was looking for. "You should be asking for a house instead, all them kids and you crammed up in a two or three bedroom apartment is just asking for trouble. Fights between all of you, I mean."

"We resided in a two bedroom apartment just fine in America, Mr. Leinart. A house would cost too much, I only have $12,222 on me. That's enough for an apartment only, not a house." Miss. Irene replied.

"You let me worry of the costs of your resident home, ma'am." Stefan said. "How many in your family again, five?"

"Six, I have five sons." Angel Irene replied. "Mr. Leinart, what you've proposed to do is right nice and all but I cannot accept that sort of charity. Although all five of my sons are very well behaved and would help out lots with the care of a house, a house is just a lot for me to deal with. An apartment is much more in my comfort area, sir."

"Ma'am, you needn't worry a bit. I have confidence that you and your five sons will do just fine in a house." Stefan said. "It is the least I can do for the heroine that re-wrote the history books and who kept us safe from the beast that is now causing havoc in North and South America."

"I'd go for the house instead of an apartment, Miss. Irene. You and your sons will be much more comfortable. You won't have any problems with the home or with the people around it, I made sure to look up neighborhoods that have good, honest people in them." Arnold Heiberg said.

"My sons and I do have to sort of keep it on a down scale, Mr. Leinart. We're sort of on the run, from my father and from others as well. We're wanted, being searched for all over in the universe." Angel Irene said. "My husband had really been putting a lot of effort into finding us, I don't want to move into a house that you've paid for only to be taken from the planet and have you stuck with a property that you don't need nor want."

"You are much too kind, Miss. Irene. It's no problem of mine to help you at all. I insist that you get a house." Stefan said. "Mr. Heiberg, did you look up the housing I asked you to when we talked over the phone?"

"Yessir, Mr. Leinart. Found five houses, two that have four bedrooms, one that has six and two that have five." Arnold Heiberg replied.

"Good. Now, Miss. Irene, I understand where you are coming from. You're scared for yourself and for yours sons. This is a safe place for you and for them. You won't have to worry a bit about your or their safety while you reside here. I promise you that. Are your sons nearby, Miss. Irene?" Stefan asked.

"About seven minutes away, in Brenners Park."

"My van is just outside, ma'am. If you'll follow me to it, I'll drive to Brenners with you in the seat beside me to pick up your boys and then we'll get started on looking for a house for you and your sons to live in." Stefan said, he looked back at Arnold Heiberg, there were no words spoken between neither man but Arnold knew by instinct what he was being asked. He handed Mr. Leinart the folder that had the information on the houses that he had found and had gotten printed out over then he stepped out of the way. Stefan Leinart, with Angel Irene following a few feet behind him, exited from his office and began going down the hallway towards the front door quickly. As they walked down the hallway Arnold heard his client, again, trying to change Sefan Leinart's mind on the house that he had said he'd buy for her and her five sons.


	2. Chapter 2

When he had run for the open spot for the presidency of Germany it had been quickly spread around in the tabloids about his campaign going from being professional to cartoony and he had not minded a single bit about that spread around gossip. The gossip wasn't bad, it was just playing on something that he had in the cars that he drove. Besides the ZAP Electric Shuttle Van that he was now driving, he had a small, more sleek in design car that he mostly drove to and from work in. For some reason, he had felt compelled to drive his Shuttle Van and, now that he had a very important passenger in the passenger seat beside him and was expecting to pick up five others that were of equal importance he was glad he had made that decision. Both vehicles had something similar hanging from the rear view mirrors, there was a Daffy Duck rear view mirror hanger hanging from the rear view mirror of the Shuttle Van and, in the car that he mostly used to drive to and from work he had a Sylvester and Tasmanian Devil hanging from its rear view mirror. On the dash-board of the vehicle that he was now driving there was a bob-a-head Tweety bird while, on the dash-board of the other vehicle that he drove he had a Wile E. Coyote bob-a-head.

He had started liking the Looney Toons shows that had once been right big in the twentieth and twenty-first century only to fall out of favor in the following two centuries only to return back to their former glory afterwards and remain there when he had been a young kid. Daffy Duck was hilarious, he got off a lot of laughs from him when he had been just barely out of short pants. Bugs Bunny was clever. Elmer Fudd was another hilarious character, he liked how that character was always bested by Bugs Bunny but always managed to knab Daffy Duck. Tweety bird was another clever character, Sylvester was his cat-nemesis. Foghorn Leghorn was a hoot, ah-say, ah-say, and Marvin the Martian was clever and dangerous.

Bugs Bunny had lots of nemesis', his first had been Elmer Fudd but, afterwards, Warner Bros. had added Yosemite Sam, an aggressive, gunslinging, prospector, outlaw, cowboy, or pirate with a hair-trigger temper and an intense hatred for rabbits and then Marvin the Martian following although there were plenty of other cartoon characters that had acted as nemesis' of Bugs' over the years as well. Daffy Duck was sort of just a competitor for everyone's attention so he couldn't really be considered a nemesis of Bugs'. He had gone through many Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian night lights when he had been a kid and he had also used pencils and book bags that had them characters on them when he had gone to school. When he had started college he had started maturing up, he had stopped using Looney Toons pencils and erasers but he had kept some stickers in each of his books for luck. He had joked around with the woman that he had married soon after graduating from college that he was going to propose to her with a Daffy Duck wedding ring and that he was going to fill the seats of their wedding place with Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and other Looney Toons characters and she had come back each and every time that he was going to sleep on the couch with a human-sized Looney Toons stuffed toy.

His kids all knew the characters, his younger child adored Bugs while his oldest said Daffy Duck and Donald Duck, a Disney cartoon character, were related which was very possible since they both looked alike. He and his oldest child had a sort of rivalry going on with the toons. He liked the Looney's and she liked the Disney, she claimed that Looney Toons had gotten its ideas from Disney while he said that they were two, different, cartoon shows based very similar to each other. She liked Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy the most. When he had started his campaign for Germany's president the tabloids had said that he was going to dress the state in toon art and have the babies and toddlers dress up in cartoon attire, a Daffy Duck nose had been put on his face in cartoons and comic strips had been made of him saying that he was going to run the country like a toon. He had laughed at all the gossip, had answered the questions presented to himself and then he had waited when the time to vote had come. He had won his campaign in a landslide, his competitor had not come anywhere near him.

"Glad to see that these characters are still being honored and passed down to the next generation." Angel Irene, his passenger, said after seeing the bob-a-head Tweety bird and the hanging Daffy Duck rear view adornment.

"I'm a toon-man, Miss. Irene. Been loving the Looney's since I was a kid." he replied. "My wife and kids know the characters, seen the shows and my kids even like the Disney toons as well."

"I was around when Steamboat Willy was first show in 1928, he was very popular." Angel Irene said. "Glad to see that your kids have seen the classics, there's too much junk being put on the tube nowadays. The networks need to go back to the nice, innocent stuff for the kids."

"I agree," Stefan Leinart nodded his head. "ever seen the likes of Family Guy or-..."

"That's what I was meaning, them shows are not for kids. Kids do not need to be watching shows where a cartoon character does drugs, drinks or smokes or does vandalism."

"The Cleveland Show that is continually re-airing is even worse, in my opinion." Stefan said. When his passenger went into a moment of quiet he decided to do so as well.

He saw the mile long look fall over her face and figured that her quiet was centered on one thing and one thing only. Her kids. She had five, all boys and she had said that they were in Brenner Park. He didn't know where but he was sure that she did and he figured he'd let her get out once they got their and do the calling. Baden-Baden, Germany had had to endure quite a lot over the past two thousand years, it was lucky to still be around but by the grace of God, and by the vices of a lot of people who had not wanted the town to be abandoned, it had been saved. Baden-Baden was a spa-town, a resort town that did have its communities and neighborhoods. It was located in the northern foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River in close proximity to France and Switzerland. Two World Wars had nearly wiped it clear off the map but the people had pulled together to bring it back from certain death. When the plagues had come around people had abandoned the town for their homes, when the plagues had concluded people had flocked back to resume their lives in the bustling town. It normally got to seventy-one degrees in the spa-town with nighttime temperatures dropping to fifty-four degrees but that night was not to be a normal one because it had been reported to get down to near thirty and that was sort of why he was driving faster then normal. There were five kids in Brenners Park, five kids that were important civilians of the planet Earth, he didn't want them kept waiting in the cold. Although he had only been driving for two minutes the traffic around him made it seem more like twenty, he had another few minutes to go before actually getting to the park.

As he drove along he began to think about the further history of the area that he was driving through and about the history of Brenners Park. Brenners Park had three things in one location, it was a hotel grounds from which the park that had rolling, green grass from which hedges had been planted and were kept neat and trim with each spring and summer season and there were lots of trails that had lovely trees that grew bright green leaves on their branches on either side. There was a pond in the park, a large one from which Geese swam peacefully and from which small fish called home, and there were several benches and small fountains placed throughout the park grounds. There were also all sorts of purple, blue, yellow and white flowers planted throughout the area as well. It was a right lovely area, couples walked the trails with their hands linked romantically, couples ate picnics on spread out blankets that they placed on the grass and it was also a lovely area for people to just walk to get a breather from their busy schedules. Besides the hotel that was on the outskirts of the park there were also several spa buildings, the city of Baden-Baden, Germany was a Spa Town after all, what was a Spa Town without several spa buildings? He thought that his very important passenger's decision to leave her sons in Brenners Park was a wise one, the park was very safe and, being that the sun had just dropped for the day, there would be no body walking around it to bother her fiver boys.

Tourist was big in this city and, so, there were buildings appropriate for tourists to do their shopping in case they wanted to take home a souvenir. There were many restaurants, both in-door and out, and there were also many hotels, some that did cost a lot per room and others that were modest in their room prices. There were theaters, museums, casinos, there was old Castle Hohenbaden, a castle that had been built in 1102 which was basically now a ruin but a maintained ruin of historical importance and there was New Castle, the 15th century residence of the margraves of Baden and later of the grand dukes of Baden and now housing the historical museum. The ruins of the Roman baths, which were over four thousand years, numerous churches of spectacular beauty and there was also Mount Merkur to shield the city against the more powerful storms that blew through. Fremersberg Tower was a right important tourist attraction, it was a telecommunications tower built in 1961 that was 83 metres tall and was reinforced with concrete. Tourists just stood gazing up at it, some took their cameras out for pictures while others just stared in awe.

Although Baden-Baden, Germany was a Spa Town it did have its communities, its neighborhoods where people lived. Several hundred years before it had just been a Spa Town, with no neighborhoods or communities, after all the plagues and natural disasters that had changed. There was the Stadt der Hoffnung, the Town of Hope, to the west. To the east there was Der Kleine Fruhling, the Little Spring and, to the south there was the community of Westliche Tor, the Western Gate. As with all these communities, there were the usual markets nearby. Grocery stores, toy stores, car dealerships and the works for all the people that lived in them communities, places where the people could shop for things for their families and places where the people who lived in them communities could find work. There were several Energy Stations in each communities shopping areas, the gas stations of old had been completely redone as vehicles no longer ran on gasoline, vehicles now ran on energy, which was so much more healthier than gasoline and also made for the engine of a vehicle to last longer. There were churches in these communities, there were private and public gyms, public and private pools and there were also parks and golf courses and libraries and schools as well. There was one small community that was not really a full community to the north, it was a rough community that he wished to keep his important passenger and her five sons far from.

"Bile, it's mom, are you and your brothers in the same place I left you after I left for the office of Maxas?" he turned his head slightly to the side, the passenger beside him had a small, circular thing in the palm of her hand that had a large speaker on its top and three buttons on its side. The button that she had pressed down looked to be blue, the one beside that was yellow while the one beside that was red.

"Should I pull up to the front of the park or to one of the side entrances?" Stefan asked.

"We froze to death, you are now speaking to my ghost, ma." a strong voice, a deep voice that was very strong and powerful, came in through the device that Angel Irene held in her hand.

"Mom, we are in the exact same place that you told us to stay near." another voice, one that wasn't as deep as the first but was rather low but still strong and powerful, came through the device next.

"Thank you, Lhaklar. You five be ready, I shall be there in less than a minute." Angel Irene said after she had pressed the blue button that was on the side of her talking device. She released the button then turned to look at Stefan. "It's a communicator, nothing dangerous. It's like a walkie or a cellular."

"I figured it was some sort of communication device, is that something the beings not of this planet use?" Stefan asked.

"Yes, it is. What was your question before my son responded to my call?"

"I was asking if I should pull up and then park by the front entrance of Brenners or one of the side entrances." Stefan said.

"I left my boys near a big tree that had three benches set up in a triangle around it. It wasn't in the center of the park, more like near a big building." Angel Irene replied.

"Was there a sign on the building?"

"Sterne Luxus,"

"Near the front entrance, we'll be there in less than a minute."

He drove on, being careful to not click any fenders or damage any cars while doing so. While he drove he began to wonder what the two boys that he had heard talk through the communications device that Angel Irene had used looked like. He knew that the older son of Angel Irene had been sired by her own father, the man had raped her and then he had claimed her as his Incestuous Mate, or wife if one so chose to use such wording. She had conceived for the man once before, a few months before her oldest had been conceived, that baby had been conceived by rape as well but she had gotten rid of it. A few months later she had conceived again, she had been forced to live in her father's residence for seven months before she had escaped. He had heard that she had been forced to carry the child and that, all throughout her pregnancy she had said that she did not want the child. After she had escaped she had come to Earth, for a few weeks she had relied on her instincts in the deserts of Egypt. While hunting to provide food for herself and for her unborn child she had formed a bond with her fetus. She had given birth to her first child a few weeks later, she had accepted the child and, for him, that was a great thing. Her second, third and fourth children had been conceived naturally, she had not been forced to have intercourse. He had no clue how the fifth child that she claimed to have had been conceived, he had no clue as to how old this one child of hers was and, in truth, he still believed that she was somewhat confused by what all had happened overseas in the Americas. From what she had said, the one that had spoken first through the communications device that she possessed was the older one that looked like his father, the one that had spoken afterwards he had no clue of. It could of been Lhaklar, her known secondborn son. It could have been Hazaar, her known thirdborn son or it could have been Lazeer, her known fourthborn son.

"I'll only be a few seconds, a minute at best." Angel Irene said after he had parked his van in front of the dark, Brenners Park. She got out of his vehicle then, after hesitating for a short second or two she turned and looked at him. He got one of them feelings that she was about to ask him to do him a big favor. "You've been very kind in doing this but, please, do me one favor in showing my sons some respect. Please, reframe from staring."

"Of course, Miss. Irene."

As the glow from her fiery red hair disappeared from view he found himself feeling a tad bit offended by her words to not stare at her sons for only a second or two. He had always stayed respectful of others, even as a kid he had respected others. Not only was it polite to remain respectful, but it was also in his nature and on his professional side to be respectful. Naturally, she would have said that to him in regards to her children, they were all alien-born, they were not human. Three of her four sons looked to have that old, fabled alien species, the Grays, in their make-up while her oldest looked like his father who was a very powerful, very feared, demonic creature. Yes, it was in a human beings' nature to look and give a stare or two to something strange but, with him being the person that he was, he wasn't going to give any long stares. He might give a glance or two but he'd not stare for any length of time. Staring just made people uncomfortable, it made them think that they had done something wrong or that they, themselves, looked not normal.

Some people got stared at because of their appearance. They wore clothing that was outrageous or because they had so much make-up on their faces that they looked like clowns. There were also people who got stared at because of their looks. A snaggle-tooth, a jaw that was lop-sided, a scar of some type that was either very deep or very noticable or, quite possibly, they had some facial hair that was normally not seen on a human's face. He had seen several women walk around with the looks of mustaches over their upper lips, he had also seen youngsters walk around with piercings in their eyebrows, foreheads or even in their upper or lower lips or their belly buttons. There were youngsters who also walked around with them earlobe earings stuck in their ear lobes that made the earlobe become dry, cracked and deformed after a period of time. Why the kids did all them piercings to their bodies was beyond him, he had made sure that his and his wife's kids knew the rights and wrongs of piercings and he was glad that neither of his older children had such disgusting pieces on their bodies.

He turned around in his seat after the thought of Miss. Irene's kids possibly having things of their own that they had on their person. Maybe some bags, maybe some piles of clothing or something around them areas. Although he had his Looney Toons bob-a-head and rear view hangers up in the front of his car the back was very clean. There were two rows of seats behind him, three persons could sit in the first row easily while three others could sit in the row behind that and there was also some space behind that second row where the open trunk was. Miss. Irene's kids could put their things there or, if they wanted to they could put their things down on the floorboards. Another thought occurred to him that, possibly, Miss. Irene and her four, or five, sons had not eaten anything yet. He couldn't see them heading to look at possible homes while having empty stomachs so he made plans right then and there to treat them to a restaurant. Did Miss. Irene's sons like the usual cuisine that a human ate? Did they like pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries or did they like food that was weird, that a human would gag at the sight and smell of? He figured he'd find out soon, when he sat back appropriately in the driver's seat he saw, off in the distance, two pairs of glowing eyes coming at him and he also saw the glow of Miss. Irene's hair. He became sort of mesmerized by them glowing eyes and that fiery glow that was coming off of Angel Irene's hair for nearly twenty seconds before he snapped to. He quickly reached back to over to unlock the sliding door that was on the right side of his vehicle then he leaned back over to his side of the vehicle. he chilly air rushed into his vehicle for only a minute but, to him, it felt more like fifteen. Miss. Irene, when she got back over to his vehicle, started ushering out orders to the boys that had followed behind her.

"Alright, Lhaklar you get in first."

What got in first made him blink his eyes in show, Lhaklar was Angel Irene's second son, the son that had been sired by her own great-uncle. For some reason, he felt that the kid that had gotten in first looked very much like his father. He was tall, standing in at six-foot, one inch and he was very athletically built. The kid had good muscle on his arms, legs and chest. His skin was not colored in a way a human's was, his skin was mint-green and he had large, oval eyes that were pistachio colored. He was wearing a pair of brown canvas pants, brown shoes and he had a brown and green checkered shirt that had a button-down front under a brown sheepskin jacket, the jacket wasn't buttoned closed. The kid had with him a duffel bag that was dark brown, it looked rather stuffed to capacity, and he also had a long wrap-up rug that was hanging down from the kid's shoulder, it had a thin, white rope tied around both of the ends. The kid's face was like that of what the people who had been abducted by the Grays would report. It was teardrop-shaped, the eyes were oval, there were holes where a nose would normally be and the mouth was O-shaped. Curiously, the kid had suction-cups on the ends of each of his fingers. The kid, after he got into his vehicle, took a seat right behind him quickly.

"Hazaar, you next."

The kid that got in next was Angel Irene's thirdborn son, he looked quite a lot like Lhaklar only his skin and eye color were different and he had a different body type. He stood about five foot, eleven inches tall, had dark blue skin and his eyes were very much like what the people that said that they had been abducted by the Grays looked like. His eyes were a deep purple color, they were very shiny and they wrapped around in his teardrop-shaped face. When the kid got into the car he saw that he had a deep purple rattail sticking out from the nape of the back of his head, the rattail was about four and a half inches long and it looked very well-kept. The kid was wearing a brown shirt that was tucked into a pair of multi-brown pants that were faded slightly at the knees, the pants were greatly faded at both the inner and outer thighs of the pants. He had brown shoes that had light brown laces on the top of his feet. He had a light brown jacket on that had a zipper down the front and a hoody on the collar, like his older brother his jacket had been left open on his body.

"Alright, Bile I want you in the row behind Lhaklar and Hazaar." Angel Irene said.

"Yes, ma."

The son of the demonic creature that was taking over the Americas got in next and he had to really keep from staring at him. He was Angel Irene's firstborn son and boy was a tall kid! He stood six-foot, three inches tall and his body was pretty big and strong. He had good muscle on his arms, legs, chest and back, the kid had to weigh somewhere over two hundred pounds. The kid had elongated ears that went only half the length of his shoulders that were dark green, they had light green Tiger-like stripes on them. The left side of the kid's head was yellow while the right side of his head was green. The pair of glowing yellow-green eyes that he had seen earlier had belonged to this kid, they had black pupils in their centers. The firstborn son of Miss. Irene was wearing a pair of pants that were dark brown and he had a brown shirt on that had some rips and tears in he chest and stomach, there were brown boots on his feet. He had a thin quality, light brown wool jacket, on that was not buttoned up. Just from hearing the kid's voice, which was strong and deep and had a strong and powerful sound to it, he knew that this was the kid that had spoken into his mother's communications device earlier. When the kid placed his hand on the back of one of the seats to steady himself he saw that he had long, dark yellow fingernails that ended in sharp points on each of his fingers. Like Hazaar, who had had a light brown duffel bag that had also looked full to capacity and a rug that had been bound by rope of both sides, this kid was carrying something similar.

"Okay, Guyunis I want you to get in next. Lazeer, you follow. No fighting now." Angel Irene said.

His jaw nearly dropped in shock over what climbed into his Shuttle Van next, he had been raised a Catholic since he was born and he was still a Catholic, the saying that demonic beings typically were clouded in shadow or were monstrous beings had come true in exorcisms and what climbed into his vehicle looked almost spot-on for the shadow demon.

At first he thought that it was the night that was playing tricks on his eyes because he could barely see the kid that was on the outside of his car but, when the kid started to climb into his vehicle he saw that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. The kid's skin was black, as black as the new night that had no moon or stars. The kid had a pair of slanted, glowing yellow eyes on a face that was nothing but black, the eyes were the only thing that he could see, the face was just that black. He had a big, strong body that was full of muscle so he was pretty strong, his arms were thickly muscles as were his shoulders, back and chest. His waist on down was more slender in build. The kid stood six-foot, three and a half inches tall and he was wearing only three things. He had a pair of black jeans on that went only down to just below his knees, the jeans had tears in the lower legs and in the upper thigh regions, the hems were dangling by threads. He had a pair of brown boots on his feet that looked heavy. The kid had a blue hoody over his head, the hood of the hoody was the only thing really remaining, there were a few remnants crossing over his stomach and chest and there was a strand of two going across his arms. The kid had a set of chains on his body, one was wrapped around his neck loosely, it connected to another strand that ran around his shoulders and chest, there was a shorter chain strand that connected to the chain belt that was around the kid's waist. When the kid grabbed the seat to steady himself as he got into his vehicle Stefan saw that he had cracked, dark gray, fingernails on each finger. He had a jean bag with him that had one strap on it, that bag was pretty round and looked to be full to capacity, he also had a rolled up rug that had rope around the ends that was hanging down from his shoulders and a rolled up, white sheet that looked like it contained something heavy in it. This kid sat beside Bile without saying a word, from the looks of things, this kid had no jacket on his person.

The last kid that got into his Shuttle Van was the last one born to Angel Irene and he looked quite a lot like Lhaklar and Hazaar. He was tall, about six feet exactly, and he had periwinkle colored skin. His eyes were circular-shaped in a teardrop-shaped face, they were a shiny silver color. His body, much like Hazaar's, was lean and had the showing of young muscle on it. He had a row of brick-red hair that looked bristly going from one side of his head to the other, it was about two inches in width, it wasn't dull by any means but it didn't glow like his mother's. This child of Angel Irene's had been said to of been born very early, at about five and a half months gestation, he was very lucky to be walking and alive. He was wearing a red mesh shirt under a leather shearling sheepskin jacket, a pair of dark gray pants that had tears at the knees and there were multi-brown and gray shoes on his feet that had dark gray ties on them. The jacket was buttoned only on the bottom, the top was open, the kid had a black duffel bag with him that was full to capacity and a rug that was rolled up, this had a single rope tied around its center, the kid was carrying this rolled up rug, he did have it hanging down from his shoulder like his brothers. Like Lhaklar and Hazaar, he had suction-cups on the ends of each of his fingernails, an O-shaped mouth and two holes were a nose would be. After Lazeer got into his Shuttle Van Angel Irene swung the door closed, she got into the passenger seat beside him a few seconds later.

The tension in the car had gone from being chilly but comfortable to thick, hot and heavy, he guessed that it was the black-skinned, demon-like kid that was seated between Bile and Lazeer that was causing it but there was also the chance that all five of the kids that were in the back of his Shuttle Van had brought it into his vehicle. As he drove down the street he'd find himself looking into his rear view mirror to see the black-skinned kid looking right at him. Just the sight of them slightly slanted, glowing yellow, eyes of that kid made shivers course throughout his body. His throat felt dry and itchy and his hands were cold and clammy. For a fleeting second he considered pulling over then saying for the black-skinned, demonic-looking kid to exit his vehicle but that consideration died out quickly. What right did he have in calling some kid demonic? The history books claimed that Angel Irene, herself, had come from demonic parents, her mother was nearly demonic in origin while her father was fully demonic so that made her almost, completely, demonic. If he threw out the black-skinned kid that looked so like the shadow demons that acted like benevolent ghosts he'd risk having Angel Irene and the other four kids snap at him, they'd all leave his car, he'd be hurting a lot of feelings. Who was he to judge on who was demonic and who wasn't anyways, wasn't Angel Irene the planet's heroine? She, with her demonic origins and her powers that came from only God and Heaven knew, acted in no way demonic. She didn't possess, harm, torture or take away from others, she had helped the planet by keeping her fully demonic father and family from conquering it. From what he had heard, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer had never hurt anyone so who said that that black-skinned kid wasn't like them.

As he drove down the near empty street, all the cars that had been on it before had seemingly disappeared from view, it was just one, long, empty strip of dark gray with a thin, white line separating one lane from the other, he began to wonder if the five children that were seated behind him acted like normal, human, children. Did they fight and fuss like normal siblings, did they have a normal rivalry between each other or did they not fight among themselves or were they constantly at each others throats? Did they get into trouble like a normal male child would? Did they jump fences into yards that they shouldn't go into, chase animals, catch animals that their mother would freak on and bring them home to be their pets, did they walk through mud then come home and leave dirty, muddy prints on the carpets for their mother to go crazy over? Did the curse, drive their mother crazy, smoke the smokes, drink what they were not suppose to? Did they play video games like normal human children did or did they just practice them powers of theirs and steer clear from suck silly devices? He had not a single answer to these questions, he did not know the kids that were in the back of his vehicle, their mother knew what they were like, she was their mother after all, but he didn't know a single thing about them and, with that, he knew that it'd be wrong to throw one out just because his appearance looked a little demonic.

"How long you six been in Germany?" he asked, he was trying to break the silence and the tension that was in his vehicle.

"Little over two days now." Angel Irene replied. "Been staying near the outskirts of the Black Forest."

"How you boys liking Germany so far?" he looked in his rear view mirror for only a second, the black-skinned kid was still very still and he was still very quiet.

"Well, we've only explored the Black Forest. So far, we are kind of liking it. It's different from what we have known." Lhaklar replied after a moment of silence.

"Kinda colder here," Hazaar said, Stefan noticed that he had a tough sort of voice to him. "we're use to temperatures higher than what it is at this time of year."

"Wait until autumn and then winter sets in," Stefan looked back momentarily before looking back at the road in front of him. "Take it from a native of this country, it get colder than a witch's tit here, boys."

"He said ti-k-t."

The black-skinned kid spoke in a nasally voice that was low yet strong that had the youthful sound of a boy either just starting or soon leaving puberty, his voice was cracking, showing the signs of its youth, but he handled that crack very well. With the black-skinned kid's chuckle after he had spoken the tension that Stefan Leinart had felt in his car after the kid had gotten in lifted. Stefan heaved a breath in, held it in for only a second then he breathed it out in relief, when the black-skinned kid had spoken he had noticed that he had yellow teeth that were crooked, either the kid needed to go to a dentist or, there was a good possibility that his teeth were coming in or set in his mouth normally. Yes, he had said the word tit. A politician had said a term in regards to the female nipple. He and his brothers had used all manner of words in regards to both female and male parts, in both their youth and in private now, boys will be boys after all. With the tension lifted he leaned down to turn the heater on, the cold from the outside was still inside the car and, since that one kid nor Angel Irene did not have a coat on, he feared that both would catch cold.

Angel Irene heaved a sigh of relief at the same time as Stefan Leinart but the reason was completely different. While Stefan was relieved that the tension had been cleared in his vehicle she was relieved to see that Guyunis wasn't acting violent or snappish or rude towards the man. The past six months had not been easy for her or for her five sons. When she had been sighted with Guyunis by her biological children there had been a lot of cheering and there had been a lot of hugs, kisses and talks of how different things would be. Lhaklar had made some memorical photographs, images that he had made from memories of him and his brothers and she as they had circled around Guyunis, and she had gotten them all framed but, without a home to put them framed, fond memories up in they had been put in storage under the soil of the planet. She and her sons, all five of them, had moved to Colorado soon after Guyunis had formerly joined in with their family, she had found out quickly that civilized living with the youngster that she had just recently adopted was not going to happen.

Guyunis had hated humans to a T six months ago, he had been very rude, violent or snappish with humans and, with all that being noted, she had decided to make the decision to her family living in caves about a mile from civilization. It had been right hard over the past six months because Guyunis, at first, had plain refused to treat humanity in a less violent, rude or snappish manner. His reason for being so mean towards humans was understandable, he had been treated very badly by his human adoption families since birth. All humanity had done for him was show him how uncaring, cruel and rude they were, he had never known a bit of kindness from a human before she had finally adopted him. Working to get him to not be but so mean to humanity had been only one thing that she had found that needed her attention, she had also had to work on his self-confidence and self-esteem as well. He had had very little confidence or self-esteem when she had adopted him and he had some deep abandonment issues that were very understandable, although his abandonment issues weren't as bad as they were six months ago they were still there, they probably would never leave him. She had taken each of her biological sons to the side, one by one, to explain to them the reason why they were staying in caves and they had all understood, they had been a big help to her by simply being there for Guyunis.

It had taken a lot of work to get Guyunis to have some self-confidence and self-esteem, he had feared from the start that she'd send him away to be with a new family and he had feared that no one would like him for long as well. For the first two months after February had begun he had run to her asking if things were cool between he, she and his "bruders", as he called Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer, and she'd always say that they were all very happy with having him as a member of the family. The first fight that he had had with Bile he had freaked out something awful, they had been fussing because Bile had gone off on his own to do some hunting, which she had said was perfectly fine to do, and Guyunis had wanted to go along. Bile had said no in the kindest of ways and then the fight had begun. Guyunis had clung to her tightly for all of a week afterwards, he had been scared that she'd send him away because he had had a fight with Bile and he had also stayed away from Bile because he feared that Bile had started hating him after that one fight which was not true. He had no clue as to how brothers acted, brothers fought from time to time but that didn't mean that they hated each other. It had been like that for the first two fights with everyone then he had started calming down and settling in, he had actually been getting confident enough in knowing that he had a forever family until he had spotted her sons practicing their powers one day.

All of her biological sons knew their powers well, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer had Elemental, Energy and Acidic powers while Bile had Elemental and Energy powers. They all practiced with them to keep in shape, Lazeer was a natural with his Acidic powers while Lhaklar wasn't yet very good with his and Hazaar only knew the basics. When Guyunis had seen her biological sons practicing he had come running out to tell them to stop, he had been afraid that they'd get in trouble for using their powers. All four of her biological sons had picked fights with him, had done the usual name calling then they had sort of walked off, leaving him all by his lonesome which had scared him to death. He had come racing up to her five minutes later, the poor thing had been crying something fierce and he had been so very sure that he was being sent away and that every one of his "bruders" were going to start hating him now.

What had happened was a simple misunderstanding on both Guyunis's part and her biological sons'. Guyunis had been beat and abused all throughout his life by his adoption families, he only knew love, care and support from her and her biological sons. The family that had had him after his birth mother, Lisa Ann Wahlberg, had taken him from her soon after he had graduated from Goboshu's Academy of Meanness only to put him back in the orphanage that had handled his adoptions from his birth had physically and verbally abused him whenever he had been spotted using his powers. They had thought that his powers were demonic and they had made him think that, he was afraid of his powers and he was afraid of anyone using their powers near him. It had taken him all of two weeks before he had come to understanding that his powers were not demonic or monstrous, they were his and his alone, no one being had right to tell him that he couldn't use them. He had gone back to being in peace with his "bruders", she had caught him sparring with all four of them several times and she had also caught him being trained by Bile and Lhaklar once or twice. Like her biological sons, he had inherited the use of Elemental and Energy powers but, unlike her biological sons, he had the use of another power that she had no clue about. He'd hold his arms close to him, they'd get engulfed in orange and green flames then, when he shot his arms out, the flames would go out towards whatever it was that he was attacking. Although these orange and green flames exploded like normal flames do when striking against something they left a signature, a radioactive or radiation signature that was very strong and, curiously and scarily, Guyunis would always find himself drained of almost all of his energy after using this power.

She and her sons had lived in the Cave of the Winds, located in the state of Colorado just west of Colorado Springs, on U.S. Highway 24, near the Manitou Cliff Dwellings for the first month after coming back to Earth then they had moved to the Hobo Cave, which was a set of bouldering problems, an actual cave beneath a rock buttress on Boulder Mountain land, found on Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder, Colorado. She and her sons had loved being there for the three months that they had been in the area then something had happened to make them move. Her father had somehow discovered the tunnels that she had created over a thousand years before, he had followed them tunnels to the cities and towns that were connected to them then he had left, when he had returned he had come with his army. She and her sons had all fled to Africa soon after, they had been forced by Horace Smith, North America's president who had jumped into a helicopter just to get to them and say for them to run for their lives. He had said for her to not worry a bit about the people of North and South America, he had said for her to look after herself and her sons which was hard. Over two thousand years of peaceful living, of living within the shields that she had put up to protect the people of Earth from her father, was now over in North and South America.

She and her sons had lived in the Ogbunike Caves, located in Ogbunike, Anambra State that was the southeastern state of Nigeria, for a month. The caves were located in a valley that was in a tropical rainforest, her sons had done a lot of hunting and fishing and she had done a lot of cooking and watching them proudly as they took care of their prizes, meaning the pelts and antlers that they had kept from their kills. She had taught Guyunis how to hunt in that location, before then he had been told to not hunt, he had no idea how to hunt and, whenever he did try to hunt, he'd do it dangerously by ambushing his prey from underneath it then springing up to fight with it physically. With her training him how to hunt he was now a very skilled and very safe hunter, she was very proud of him. She had also taken up his power training at that time, he was very strong with his powers and, again, she was very proud of him for that. He was a fast learner, a good listener and he did his best to imitate her and also to make his own power moves.

After a month of living there she had moved her sons to the Sannur Cave located ten miles southeast of the city of Beni Suef that was in Egypt. She had had to be careful in that move since Guyunis's birth mother lived in that part of Africa but, luckily, neither birth-mother or son had come in contact with one another. Lisa had given her son up for adoption right after he had been born and she had made it very clear to pretty much everyone that she wanted not a thing to do with her only son and child and the feeling was sort of mutual with Guyunis as he didn't much want to know or get to know or see her either. She and her sons had lived there for a month then she had made he decision after seeing that Guyunis had started acting on friendly terms with the humans in the city of Beni Suef that it was time for her and her five boys to make the move into living with and around the humans.

Moving to Germany had not been much liked by Guyunis, he had had a small scare moment that she was putting him back with Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr. which was not true. She was moving them to Germany but not so to get rid of Guyunis, she had told this to all of them while they had been around a fire quite loudly. She had started out with the usual, with what she had been saying from the start after Guyunis had come to be a member of their family; that no one was leaving the family, no one was being sent away, Guyunis was there to stay, point-blank. She and her family were Guyunis's final family, he was to have no other adoption families. Then she had gone on to tell them that it was time to make the move into more civilized living, they were ready, Guyunis was ready. She had promised each and every one of her sons that they'd still be allowed to do their favorite outdoor activities, which was hunt and fish, and she had also said that she'd still always be there for them and with them. Guyunis had asked where they were going to move to in an excited way then, when she had said that she was picking Germany for their new home state he had gone quiet. He had not been very happy with the idea since he had lived in Germany for most of his life and he had sort of been worrying that he'd bump into someone that he knew that had once had him as an adopted son or sibling. She had said that she was picking a place far from where his adoptions family's lived or had lived and he had gone back to being in happy mode. She had made a promise to Guyunis that, besides her always being there for him and that she'd always be his mother, that she'd treat him well in a home environment; meaning that she wouldn't make a slave out of him. He had said that he knew that and then she had asked them to go pack up their things then get a good nights sleep. They had been in Germany for a little over two days and, so far, the energy given off by all of her special boys was good. If her arms were elastic she would have reached it clear over to Guyunis to give him a pat for chuckling at Mr. Leinart's use of the word tits, instead she just looked back and smiled at him. He smiled right back at her.

"So, Miss. Irene-..."

"Angel, you can call me by my first name if you like." Angel replied quickly.

"Angel, have you and your sons eaten anything lately? If you don't mind, I'd like to take you six to a restaurant of your chosing before we get started on the search for your new house." Stefan said, he did not mind a bit in being interrupted and he liked the idea that she trusted him enough to let him use her first name.

"You are much too kind, sir." Angel said, she then looked back at her five sons. "You five eaten anything during my absence?"

"No," Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar, Lazeer and Guyunis all said at once.

"This fine man here is offering to take us out for supper, any ideas on where you want him to go?" Angel asked her sons.


	3. Chapter 3

The Fry Burger had been started in the Americas but, soon after the taste had been acquired by humanity it had been incorporated into countries around the planet. Soon after, the Bacon, Lettuce and Onion Supreme had followed then the Quadruple Burger that had four meat patties on one bun that had two buns placed between the patties and then the fast food chains had started experimenting with making other weird dishes for their menus. Pickle Fries, that had been big for a short while. Apple Fries, those were still very popular. Before Burger King had gone out with the plagues and natural disasters they had put the Sour Onion Ring on their menu that had not done very well. Even though most of all the popular Pizza restaurants had gone out after Burger King, MacDonald's and Wendy's had gone out of business there was still Dominos and Pizza Hut sending out their pizzas and he had found himself taking his very important passengers to Pizza Hut. He had said that there was no limit, he knew how hungry boys got so he knew that the bill was going to be expensive from the get-go.

Bile was one who liked pepperoni, which was a big surprise to him, he had been even more surprised when the youngster had asked for him to order one of them Cheesy Bits Pizzas, a pizza that's crust had cheesy insides. He had ordered the youngster a large Cheesy Bits Pizza then Lhaklar had asked for the Meateor, a pizza stuffed with sausage, mushroom, pepperoni and lots of cheese. He had ordered him a large Meateor then he had asked Hazaar and Lazeer what they wanted. Hazaar seemed to be one who liked cheese, he had asked for Deep Dish Five Cheese, he had ordered a large pizza of that. Lazeer had asked for the Deep Dish Olive, Green Pepper, Ham, Egg pizza that had mozzarella cheese and he had ordered him the large of that. The black-skinned kid named Guyunis had taken a short while in ordering but, after a few minute wait he had asked for the Sausage, Red Pepper, Mushroom and Cheese pizza that had cheesy bits on it, he had ordered a large of that pizza then he had asked all of five boys' mother what she wanted. She had asked for a Garden Eggplant Deep Dish pizza, a medium only, and he had ordered that for her and then he had ordered a simple cheese for himself.

The kid named Guyunis, who he had accidentally called Gyunis by mistake twice, was a right interesting kid. He wasn't Angel Irene's biological child but he was related to her, he was the son of her great-great grandfather which technically made him an uncle to her, Miss. Irene had explained the situation with the kid and he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The kid was one thousand, nine hundred and one years old and, for a majority of his life he had known very little love or respect. His birth mother had simply given birth to him then she had said for him to be sent away to an orphanage where he had been adopted out to families that had treated him badly. Miss. Irene had taken him in three times, had paid for his education and had treated him right. Right quick after the tension had left his vehicle after Guyunis had started chuckling after he had said the word tits, he had known that all four of her biological sons were close to her and, from all opinions of his, so was Guyunis. Miss. Irene's kids were all pretty close in age; Bile was two thousand, two hundred and one years old, Lhaklar was two thousand, one hundred and one years old, Hazaar was one thousand, seven hundred and one years old and Lazeer was one thousand, six hundred and one years old, Guyunis fit in very well with the family and they all seemed to be very taken with him which was a good thing. After all the hell that he had gone through in his life he did have to agree with Angel Irene, that he was living the high life where he was getting what he should have been getting from the start - meaning love, support, understanding and care.

During the meal of pizza he had gently presented the question of how Miss. Irene's father, a demonic man who was commonly known about the universe as the feared conqueror of world's who was named Master Vile, had gotten into the shields that were around the Americas. Miss. Irene had answered his question slowly, the cloud of not wanting to had spread across her face for a few seconds before it had disappeared. She had told him that, according to the newspapers that were circulating all about the trillions of planets that the universe had her father had happened upon the tunnels that went underneath the shields by simple chance. The man, upon being interviewed by an alien reporter on his finally being able to get into the shields that had been put up by his daughter on Earth, had said that he had been taking a short walk along a mountain trail that was on the planet when he had seen a truck suddenly appear from out of nowhere. The man claimed that he had walked down the road that was inside the tunnel to inside the shields, when he had seen that the tunnels had taken him to the "inner workings of civilization of the planet Earth" he had high-tailed it out to gather his army of monsters. Angel Irene claimed balls on her father happening on the tunnels, she said that, besides the planets in the M-51 Galaxy, he hardly went to the planets that were under his control in the Dark Galaxy and the Betta Galaxy. He had gotten three palaces built on three planets within them two galaxies but he very rarely resided in them, he mostly stayed on his birth planet, Gamma-Vile.

"When he came back with his army he created havoc, the military had no chance against him or his army of monsters. Horace Smith was quickly evacuated to a safer location after my father was reported to be in Washington, he may still be in hiding now. The only reason he came out of hiding was to find me." she had said. "He came by helicopter, his pilot landed and he got out then he ran over to me. I had fought some of the monsters in his army, I had beat them back in several towns while my boys were safely hidden. Mr. Smith told me to get out, to plain get out of the Americas."

"Do you know where Horace Smith is?" he had asked, a pact had been reached after World World 4 that the planet's people would remain in peace and, so far, that pact was being honored. Germany and the Americas were friends, allies, now.

"Yes, he's hiding under Mount Rushmore. Very deep under ground." she had replied. "I wanted to stay and give it a go to expel my father and his army of monsters by Mr. Smith would hear none of it. He told me to not worry about the people of the Americas, he told me to just worry about myself and my sons. He said that they'd be fine, I'm not so sure that that will turn out true."

After treating the family to pizza and hearing what all Guyunis had gone through in his life and about how Master Vile had gotten into the shields that protected the Americas he had taken them out for Hot Fudge Sundaes next, they had all appreciated his taking them out, there had been a lot of thank-you's from each and every one of them. Soon after the Sundaes had been consumed he had started taking them to see the houses that Arnold Heiberg had printed out earlier. The houses that Mr. Heiberg had found and had printed out for him he didn't much like and he had a feeling that his passengers didn't much favor them either. Either too small or it didn't feel right, he had asked his personal assistant to do a search on homes that had either five or six bedrooms, two baths and a front and back yard, his assistant had not been very happy to do this as it had been right late at night and she had just been about to head to bed with her husband but, after he had explained the situation she had gone to work quickly. He had gone home to get the faxes that she had sent him and then, after he had gotten back into his Shuttle Van, he had resumed the driving and the search for Miss. Irene and her sons' new home.

The first house they had not liked because the outside, which was vinyl, looked very dirty and unstable and the rooms inside had been pretty small, the house had had a big front yard but a small back yard and, from what he had seen, there had been no attic to the house. The next house had been in a neighborhood that had not looked safe, he had driven on without stopping to look at the house. The third house had been a nice upstairs/downstairs situated up on a hill, the front yard had been decent but the back yard had required some work. Out of the five rooms that the third house had had in it only two had been appropriately sized, Miss. Irene had shook her head several times and he had agreed with her, the house was not for them.

The fourth house had been a nice gray brick one that's rooms were nicely sized, almost all of the rooms had been the same size but, upon inspecting the basement it had been discovered that the pipes were badly in need of repair and the attic's beams had also been in need of replacing. The fifth house had been a nice yellow concrete structure, an upstairs/downstairs with a pool in the back that had five bedrooms and a bath and a half in it. There had been two rooms that were smaller than the others but not by much, there had been an attic and a basement in the house. Miss. Irene and her sons had liked that house quite a lot and, in fact, he had been sure that they were going to say that that house was the last one that they wanted to see but, to his surprise, they had said that they wanted to see the last house that they had not yet seen before making a decision.

The last house that he was now five minutes away from was a rather new house, it had been built five years before and it had only had one owner that had, sadly, lost his home to foreclosure. It had six bedrooms in it, two were smaller but that was okay since it was barely noticable and the house also came with two baths, a medium-sized attic and a small basement that served as the laundry room. The kitchen was medium-sized, it had a dining room attached to it and the living room was modestly built. The yard around the house was appropriately sized for such a house which was good, there was no pool to go with the house but there was a public pool nearby along with tennis courts, basketball courts and a baseball diamond. The town nearby had pretty much everything a family needed in it, to the north there was a mall as well which was nice. The house had central heating and cooling which was good, everything had passed inspection that had happened a month before in the house which was also good. The yard had some trees in the back and in the front, the flower beds were empty at the moment, the information on the piece of paper that he had on his lap that told where the house was, how much it cost and how many square feet it was said that the living room had a gas-powered fireplace in it. There were homes nearby, homes that looked either the same or were slightly different, the neighborhood wasn't one of them types where only the rich lived, the house that he was taking his passengers had a price tag of 250,000 euros which he could afford easily.

"None of you are allergic to pollen or bee stings, right?" he asked, he was two minutes from the house, the night had gone by somewhat quickly, he couldn't believe that he wasn't a bit tired. It was three hours before sunrise, the kids in the back had not slept any as he had driven them around and all looked to be right sleepy to him.

"None of us are allergic to pollen, bees, wasps or any other biting insects." Angel replied. "Lazeer's allergic to peanuts but that's it."

"That sucks," Stefan looked back momentarily at Lazeer before looking back at the road. "bet you wish you wasn't allergic to peanuts. Miss out on a lot of good cuisine."

"Not really something to cry about really, just glad I'm not allergic to my nuts." Lazeer replied.

"Lazeer!"

Although the fiery red-head was chiding her child for his choice of words, Stefan was laughing. This was only the fifth time that Lazeer had spurred off a joke that he had laughed at, the youngster seemed to like making jokes or being funny which he was perfectly okay with. He was just enjoying life in his own special way, he was one of them types of people who was open instead of shut off. Bile and Lhaklar, from what he could tell, were the more serious of Angel Irene's sons but Bile seemed to have a funny side as well. He had been told about the little phase that Hazaar and Lazeer were both going through, they were going through a phase where they were angry a lot and that was perfectly fine. He had gone through a similar phase with Sophia, his oldest child. She had been extra quiet for almost two years after she had reached the age of fourteen, whenever anyone had spoken to her she had snapped back, asking why everyone was looking at her and getting on her or not letting her do what she wanted to do when no one had been looking or getting on her, he and his wife had been doing their usual with keeping her grounded so that last one had also been out there. He guessed that, with boy children, that phase was upped dramatically. Guyunis seemed to be half serious and half funny and he also seemed to have an unsure side to him, he guessed that that stemmed from the abuse that he had had to endure for the majority of his young life.

This house was in the district of Rastatt, which was actually surrounding the Spa Tow of Baden-Baden, the town that the house belonged to was Elcheshein-Illingen. Elcheshein-Illingen was a large area, it covered over six square miles and it was near the river Rhine, along with its old channels which were called Rheinauen. There were many forests in the area along with GoldKanal and an old lake where gold was found. The nearest, biggest, city was Karlsruhe and, like Baden-Baden, it was near the Black Forest. Elcheshein-Illingen bordered several towns in a clockwise fashion; there was Au am Rhein, Durmersheim, Bietigheim (Baden) and Steinmauern bordering it and, like all them towns, Elcheshein-Illingen was located in the state of Baden-Wurttember, Germany. If Miss. Irene chose the house that he was taking them to they'd all be very happy, the people in Elcheshein-Illingen were very friendly so they'd not have to worry about being disrespected because of their non-human looks.

"I-is that it?" Lhaklar asked after Stefan had pulled into a short-length driveway that came off of a pretty big house. He pulled himself forward just a bit to see the house better before sitting back in his seat.

"The last house on the list, yes." Stefan replied.

It was a dark red brick house that loomed up tall, it was dark at the moment due to their being no power to the structure but he had a feeling that the family that he had been driving around all night long could see the shape and size of the building just fine. The roof was dark gray shingled, the yard in the front had lush green grass in it as did the back, there were bright pink Dwarf Crepe Myrtle trees lined up against the left side of the driveway while the right side had been left bare. There was one Yoshino Cherry tree planted in the center of the yard while, off to the side there were two, red flowering, Dogwood trees that had a wooden bench placed between them. Both Dogwood trees had a circle of smooth, round, white stones placed around their trunks. The information on the piece of paper that he had on his lap said that there was a semi-circle of yellow flowering, Guayacan trees. There was a note on the piece of paper that said that there were more trees in the back yard, it just didn't tell what they were. There was something to the house that had not been included on the website where his personal assistant had found the house on. At the end of the drive way there was a prefab steel structure carports, big enough to hold two cars in it, that had been put up right against the side of the house. He parked his Shuttle Van underneath the carport, withdrew the key from the ignition then reached for the door on his side, Miss. Irene had already gotten out, she had opened the sliding door on the right side of his van, her five sons were slowly climbing out of the back. Stefan could see the look of shocked wonder on each of their faces.

"I like the porch," Guyunis said, the front porch was made entirely of red bricks, there were five steps that led to the porch landing. "not many steps."

He opened the front door with the key that he had gotten from the real estate office that he had stopped in town to get then he led everyone inside. Although the house was cold on the inside it gave off a good energy, the foyer was small, a short hallway that had red carpet on its floor went only four steps before stopping. An arch opened up just two feet from the foyer, it led into the living room that had a vaulted ceiling that had been painted white and that had a pebbled texture to it. Miss. Irene's sons had come out of his van with all their things, the second they saw the living room they piled their things all nice and neatly up against one of the walls before returning to their mother. The dining room came off of the short hallway, it and the kitchen that was connected to it had dark cherry vinyl on the floor while the walls and ceiling were painted a color between blue and gray. The ceiling in the dining room and kitchen was normal, it was flat. Stefan led the family that he had traveled with for nearly all that night to the stairs that were at the other end of the hallway that branched off from the one that came off from the foyer. The stairs had red carpeting on the steps, there was no banister, the wall was flush with the stairs. In total, there were about eleven steps to the stairs, when he got to the second floor of the house he stepped to the side. The houses' rooms had all been built on the second level, the two smaller rooms were placed across from each other at the far end of the hallway, the master bedroom was on the left side of the hallway, it was sandwiched between the smaller bedroom that was on that side of the hallway and the bigger bedroom that was slightly smaller than it. On the right side of the hallway there were two other bedrooms, all of these rooms had windows in them so the kids would be able to have some sun seep into the room to light it or heat it up naturally. The boys checked the rooms out while he led their mother up to the attic then, after she had checked the attic out for a few minutes, she checked the bathroom that was on the level.

"Think with the energy that they are all showing that this is the house that they will say they want." Stefan thought, Miss. Irene had gone down to the first level on her own to check the one bathroom there and to also check the small basement out.

He and his brothers all agreed that this house shopping thing was a surprise, they had all been told by ma that it was going to be a three bedroom apartment that they were going to move to and live in for a while. Plans had been brought up while they had waited on ma's return with what the humans had helped her find in apartments that they were looking for, since ma had said that she was going to look for an apartment that had three spacious rooms in it it had been agreed upon that it'd be Hazaar and Lazeer rooming together and that he and Lhaklar would room together while ma and Guyunis would sleep in the same room at nights, none of them had wanted ma sleeping back on a sleeper sofa or even sleeping on the floor. When their mother had come back with Mr. Stefan Leinart saying that there had been a change of plan about their living place they had all thought that the plan for a three bedroom apartment had been switched for an apartment that had more rooms in it, possibly a four or five bedroom apartment or something like that, when they had heard that it was a house that was being pushed on them for their residency they had not believed it.

They had all agreed that the four bedroom houses were not good ones, the energy was wrong and the rooms just didn't seem big enough, the five bedroom houses had had a better energy to them and they had liked two right off the bat, when the question of where Guyunis would sleep had arisen it had either been him or Hazaar calling claims on their new adopted brother, who had given a small smile in return for their claims of him as a roommate. This six bedroom, two bathroom house had a lot of energy in it that he and his brothers all liked, although they all knew that it was their mother's decision on whether they were getting the house or not they had all sort of already put forth claims on the rooms. The master bedroom, which would belong to ma should she decide to go for the house, was going to be sandwiched between his and Guyunis's rooms, he was surprised that Guyunis had picked the room on the master bedroom's right. Lazeer was calling claims to the room across from his while Lhaklar had called claims on the room beside that, Hazaar was "stuck" with the room beside his which was okay since all the rooms looked pretty similar in size. The room that he had claimed had a medium-sized window that had a window sill on it, the carpet was dark red which he liked a lot and the walls were a light reddish-cream color as was the ceiling that was smooth. He had checked into the other rooms quick after staking his claim on the room, they all had dark red carpeting and light reddish-cream painted walls and they all had windows that had sills on them. He saw a lot of potential with the house, he and his brothers could all do their hobbies in it, they could put their framed photographs up on the walls, ma would be cooking like normal and they'd be watching the shows that came in on the tube when they were at home.

"Boys, meeting time." ma called from the hallway.

They all stepped out of the rooms that they had claimed silently then went towards their mother, the meeting was short and pleasant, it was very important to know what all of them thought about the house and it was also important to hear in on what their mother had to say. Lhaklar had been given his wallet back soon after Guyunis had been led to their spot in the Black Forest six months before, all $2,222 had been in the wallet and he had said that ma could use it for the apartments down payment or security deposit. Guyunis had been pretty loaded with cash, $10,000 worth from what all he had sold of the jewelry that he had slipped from his former guardian, Lenora Meyer. He had also slipped that over to ma for the expenses in the apartment, he had been given $400 by ma six months before as well as a gift which he had tried to give back several times, when ma had refused to take it he had decided to split it between him and them. They had used that money only when the first of the month came around, they had spent that money on magazines and Hazaar and Lazeer had also slipped a few bills his way to buy them their cigarettes which he had done. That money was now all used up, they were all broke now except for that $10,000 that Guyunis had and that $2,222 that Lhaklar had on their person. Their mother had said that getting an apartment was something like a late birthday present for them, they had all turned one year older while living in caves near civilization so they really hadn't been able to do the traditional celebrating. Ma had cooked the things that they had hunted and fished and brought back on them days well, they had done the Birthday songs by the campfire and then they had gone to sleep. He and his brothers all said their peace on the house then they quieted up, they let their mother take over.

"Mr. Leinart, we do like the house quite a lot but I do have a few questions to ask you on it." Angel said after her sons had said their peace on the house.

"What's that, Angel?" Stefan asked.

"What's the price and the down payment? Is there a security deposit required before one could purchase this home?"

"You let me worry over that, Miss. Irene." Stefan said, when Angel gave him the serious look he walked over to her. "Miss. Irene, you keep your money. I'll buy the house for you, put it in your name and give you the title, let me worry about all the costs of security deposits and down payments okay. You and your sons have had it rough these past ten months, it's time you six had a rest. A breather, if you will."

"I really can't ask you to do that, I'd feel like a heel for letting you foot all the cost for a building like this for us." Angel said.

"A gift, Miss. Irene. From me, the people of Germany and the people of Earth for all that you've done in keeping this planet safe." Stefan said, when he saw the ghost of sadness cross over her face he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't you worry any about what's going on overseas. I highly doubt if that old coot remains in control of the Americas for long. We all have faith that his rise in power there won't be for very long."

"Much too kind, Mr. Leinart." Angel Irene said, she then turned to look at her sons before sighing then turning to look back at him. "Okay, we'll take this one. Big enough for all of us to live comfortably in."

"Good choice, Angel. Would you six be okay staying here for the night or would you like for me to set you up in a motel?"

"We'll stay here, we'll probably sleep huddled up against each other in one of the rooms." Angel replied.

"I'll be back shortly," Stefan said, he turned to leave, got a few feet from the fiery red-head that had so much on her shoulders then he stopped. "Be expecting me around nine tomorrow morning, Miss. Irene. Welcome to Germany, we're happy to have you here."

As he left the house that he had just said he'd buy for the planet's heroine his inner voice told him that this would be the third house that he had bought. Besides the nice four bedroom, one and a half bath home that he, his wife and their three children lived in he also owned a five bedroom, bath and a half in St. Peter-Ording, a beach that was in Schleswig-Holstein. Most politicians owned more than two homes but he saw that two was all he and his family needed, he and his family lived primarily in their four bedroom home located near Baden-Baden but, during the summer months when the kids were not in school, they'd lived in the home that overlooked the beach. Two homes meant less bills, both for utilities and for repairs, and it also meant less back-talk from civilians. He was a good, decent, honest person, he didn't want to crush his image by going on a house buying spree. When he got into his Shuttle Van he remembered what Miss. Irene had told him about her father having six palaces, six homes on six planets in two of his conquered galaxies. That, he viewed, was stupid. Who needed six homes? What was the need to have the extra bills for utilities and for the repairs when one of them homes got damaged and what was the point when the man resided on his birth planet? Stefan figured that, with Angel's telling him that Master Vile resided mostly on Gamma-Vile, Master Vile had seven homes and, quite possibly, he had more than that.

Conquerors were funny people, they conquered, they ordered monuments built of their achievements over historical landmarks or in stupid locations where they'd barely be seen and they also ruled funny. Some conquerors ruled fine for a few years then they slapped down their hands on the table, taxes were increased, the cost of daily life increased, they gave not a worry in the world over their people who were suffering and they spent freely their cash. There were some good conquerors in Earth's history, but they were very outnumbered by the bad, the ruthless and the cruel conquerors that only conquered to make a name for themselves. Stefan viewed Master Vile as a crazy conqueror, as far as he was concerned the man was crazy, he was powerful and he was crazy at the same time. Who would want to have seven plus homes and who would actually claim one of his own offspring as his "wife" and father children through her? It took Stefan a few minutes of driving before he remembered that, in the history books, Angel Irene had also claimed that her father had tried to kill both Bile and Lhaklar when they had been infants and, also, she had claimed that he had killed her by thrusting his hand into her stomach then tearing it up then out of her. How she had been brought back was beyond him, he figured that the Higher Powers had decided that she was very much needed, for both Earth and for her two, infant sons, but he was glad that she had been returned to life. If Master Vile had tried to kill Bile and Lhaklar when they had been nothing more than defenseless infants and if he had tried to kill his own daughter sometime later then the man must be more crazy than he thought. Stefan reached down to turn the radio on in his Shuttle Van, he had left it off so not to disturb Miss. Irene and her sons as he had had the news station on while on the way over to pick her up from the real estate office. He very nearly slammed his foot down on the brakes afterwards, the reporter that was talking was saying something about Master Vile and the Americas.

"Master Vile has completely taken over the continents of North and South America today, he was last seen in the White House, quite possibly looking over important papers and laws and, quite possibly, also looking for the whereabouts of Mr. Horace Smith who is the current president of the North America. Mr. Horace Smith has not been seen in quite a while, it is presumed that he and his staff fled the capital for a more safer location to plot an attempt to take the seemingly invincible Master Vile down. All army forces that have come up against Master Vile and his army have been taken down quickly, there are many militants being held in prisons and there are many more in hospitals. Master Vile, soon after taking over the continent of South America, declared that all citizens were to stay inside their homes after noon hour, the only exception he has given for the breaking of this rule is for the children who are still in school and for emergency reasons. He has personally taken down twelve riots and three protests." the news reporter, a woman, was saying. "It is well-known that, two days ago, he had given out the order that should there be any information on his daughter, the heroine, Angel Irene, that he claims has been missing for all of six months to be handed over to him at once. All able mouthed have remained close-lipped on Miss. Irene's whereabouts, we all wish that wherever she is that she and her five reported sons are safe and out of harms way. Master Vile has made no mention of looking for Miss. Irene's sons, it is known that-..."

He snapped his car's radio off then drove on in silence, although he wasn't going to voice it to Angel Irene he was very concerned for her and for her sons. The demon that was across the Atlantic was looking for her and only her, he was not looking for her and her five boys which was alarming. It seemed that he had not changed one bit about any of Miss. Irene's sons, if he had of changed he'd of said he was looking for all of them, not just his daughter. He considered putting an armed guard around the house that he was about to buy and then sign over for Angel Irene and her sons to live in for only a second before he threw that thought to the side, that would attract attention and that was not what Miss. Irene and her sons needed. He also considered putting a body-guard or two in charge of keeping Miss. Irene and her sons safe and asking a cop to keep an eye on the family but them things would also generate attention. He didn't want Master Vile to know where his daughter was, he didn't want that crazy, demonic man to come to Germany to try to separate his daughter from her five boys. He wanted Miss. Irene and her sons to be safe and comfortable here, not worried half to death about some demonic, crazy person who thought he was all that and a bag of chips.

As he drove along towards the real estate office that stayed open for twenty-four hours from Monday to Saturday he began to wonder if Master Vile was going to try to get into the shields around the island nations and Europe as well. Angel Irene had made tunnels form underneath the shields of North and South America that connected to the roads outside of the cities and towns, she had masked the tunnel openings with a spell that made it look as if no opening was there. For the island nations she had done something else, she had made tunnels appear underneath the shields but, unlike the Americas, she had made them form completely under the ground. No tunnel opened up outside of a shield so, Stefan was sure, the island nations would be safe. For Europe she had done the exact same thing, when people had started complaining about not being able to go out hunting the forests that were outside the shields she had made a secondary shield form around the forests then she had connected the two just so them people would be safe while they hunted. Angel said that the papers claimed that her father had just happened on the tunnels, how was that when the spell that she had conjured made the tunnel openings appear to not be there on both sides? Surely he would had steered clear of the area, there were no programs that documented Miss. Irene's making of the tunnels and, besides being passed around by general mouth, no books had any material on the tunnels and their openings being masked or hidden as well. Stefan shook his head, with North America's president being in hiding they still had a good chance to throw that demonic creature out, he was very sure that that demonic creature would not remain in power for no more than a few months.


	4. Chapter 4

When the sun came up, basking the landscape that had previously been covered in darkness due to the moon being a no-show for the previous night, Mitzi Klied and her husband, Kurt, got up quickly. They had grown so accustomed to getting up after the sun had risen over the horizon that they didn't need an alarm clock. Mitzi wrapped her purple cotton robe around herself soon after getting up from her and her husband's tempur-pedic bed then she went down to the kitchen quickly, this morning felt slightly different from the last but she didn't let that noticed difference deter her from her morning routine. She filled the glass coffee pot with water then she slid it into the main part of the coffee maker, she then filled the filter with coffee grounds after taking a second to get that freshly ground up coffee bean smell worked into her nostrils. With the coffee pot working to make that morning's coffee she next turned to the family dog, Natascha had slept at the foot of her and her husband's bed that night as always, she had followed her downstairs and was now begging to be let out so she could relieve herself and bring in the morning paper, which she always did. Mitzi went to the front of her five bedroom home that a bath and a half included in its make-up, when she opened the door her dog, a white Schnoodle which was a Poodle/Schnauzer mix of about three years of age, ran out quickly.

She and her family had lived in the town of Elcheshein-Illingen, that was in Baden-Wurttember, Germany for fourteen happy years, she couldn't see herself living anywhere else. Petra, her oldest daughter that was seventeen years old, had been born in a different location but Sarah, her youngest at twelve years of age, had been born right in the hospital that was in town. She and her husband, Kurt, were in their late-thirties, Kurt was older than her by six months but they didn't see age as a factor in their marriage. He and she had been high school sweethearts and he had actually followed her to college where they both had earned their medical diplomas. They had sort of waited after marrying to have kids, their schedules had just not been right for a child to be brought into the family, they were both very happy with being parents to their two daughters.

Mitzi, a platinum-blonde haired woman who had gray eyes in a diamond-shaped face, went back to the kitchen to make up breakfast for her family. She whipped out a pan, cracked a few eggs on its rim then went to get another pan after the eggs had began cooking. For some reason, she had a craving for pancakes that morning and by golly gosh that was what she was going to make for herself and for her family. She grabbed the pancake mix from the fridge, a bowl and then a spoon, she filled the bowl with a cupful of pancake mix and then some water, after a minute of stirring with a silver spoon the mix was ready to be poured into the pan that she had sprayed with Spam soon after placing it on the burner. She decided to stop at that for breakfast, a pancake each and some eggs for her, Kurt and their daughters and a cup of Joe for her and her husband sounded pretty okay with her. Mitzi flipped the one pancake that was in the pan after a minute of letting it cook and turn a golden-brown color then she went to scramble the eggs, although her husband was one who liked for his eggs to be Sunny Side Up she had decided that everyone was just going to have plain, simple, scrambled eggs for breakfast. After she had scrambled the eggs the sound of Natascha's nails clicking against the vinyl reached her ears, she turned around to see her sweet Schnoodle walking into the kitchen, the dog had relieved herself then she had retrieved the newspaper, she had gotten back into the house by rounding it, there was a doggy door built into the back door that only allowed for her precious dog to come into the house. Mitzi kelt down, she gave her dog a pat on the head then she grabbed the paper, she tossed it onto the kitchen table after taking one look at the article's title that mentioned that vile creature, Master Vile, who was terrorizing them poor citizens across the Atlantic. Her husband, Kurt, a man who stood five foot, nine and a half inches tall and who had brown eyes and sandy brown hair, walked into the kitchen right after the newspaper landed on the table, he was wearing his blue nurses outfit, unlike her he had the day shift at the hospital that was in their town.

"Guten Morgen," he said to her in German, even though most all of Germany's citizens had learned English and spoke it more than their native language she and her husband used both languages evenly.

"Good morning," she said back in English. "breakfast will be ready shortly, Natascha brought the paper in."

Kurt Klied sat down at the dark brown, round, kitchen table, he crossed his ankles then grabbed the paper. After he had undone the band that was around the paper's center then had unrolled the paper he sat back, with one hand he held the paper up to his face, with the other he scratched Natascha behind the ear. Mitzi made Natascha's breakfast up quickly, she added a tiny bit of eggs to the regular dog food then she set the red dog food bowl that had her dog's name on it down on the floor. Natascha ran forward, towards her bowl of food. Mitzi was again treated to seeing the article's name that was on the front page of the newspaper, the article took over the entire first page of the newspaper, the title simply said that Master Vile was looking for his daughter and that he was also looking for North America's missing president, Horace Smith. Mitzi shrugged her shoulder, she tried her best to ignore the name of the article but, in the end, she had to voice her opinion on it.

"That man needs a trip to the funny farm. Comes to our planet, takes over one continent, sends many to jail or to the hospital for simply trying to oust him." she said.

"I fear that no funny farm will take him if he should be carted of to one, the staff would be too scared of him." Kurt replied.

"He has done nothing but bad here, can't he take a hint that he is not wanted?" Mitzi went on.

"Did Genghiz Khan stay away from the areas he attacked because he wasn't wanted to be in the area?" Kurt said. "No conqueror is wanted in any areas, but I'd rather take a human conqueror over the likes of the demon that is taking over the Americas."

Sarah walked into the kitchen, she had her mother's platinum-blonde hair but her eyes she had gotten from her father, she stood just five foot, three inches tall and had a very petite build, she was wearing a red, short sleeve, shirt and a pair of blue sweat pants. Mitzi started making the plates, she made up her husbands first then she made Sarah's, after she had placed them down she went to grab her husband's coffee cup, she filled that with the coffee that she had made earlier that morning then she brought that over to him. At that time Petra walked in, her hair was brown and her eyes were gray, she was wearing a gray blouse and a pair of blue jeans, Mitzi was proud to know that her daughter's were not letting anything show on their bodies. She had given them both the talk of what bad clothing did to a lady, of what it declared out to the world. Mitzi went to grab Sarah's plate, she grabbed her own after she had placed her oldest daughter's plate down in front of her, she decided to skip a cup of coffee until later on that morning.

"Think someone bought the Kaufer place last night, mumma." Sarah said. "Saw a car drive up the drive way."

"Been on the market for a while now, about time took a look at it." Kurt said.

"When did you see the car drive up the Kaufer's drive way, Sarah?" Mitzi asked.

"About twenty minutes after three in the morning." Sarah said.

"What in the world was you doing up at that hour?" Mitzi demanded to know, she and her family always went to bed at eleven o' clock each night, no exceptions.

"Was getting a drink of water," Sarah replied. "was thirsty and my throat was dry. I saw the van drive up the drive way while I was in the kitchen, had quite a lot of people in it."

"How many?" Kurt asked, he folded the paper then placed it down on the table's surface.

"Big family, more than four I think." Sarah replied.

"Hope they decide to get the house, it's been on the market now for nearly two years." Mitzi said.

Kurt finished his breakfast, drank his coffee then he stood up and said his usual, which was he'd call them at lunch and that if they needed him for anything to give him a ring. Petra and Sarah went upstairs after they had finished their breakfast, Mitzi figured that they were going to do some spiffing up in the bathroom, Petra had said the night before that she and some of her girl friends were going to the mall after ten o' clock. Sarah was just starting to experiment with make-up, it was somewhat funny to see her giving her reflection in the mirror a good looking over before shaking her head then doing it all over again. Mitzi collected all the dishes and silverware and cups that had been used that morning, she took them to the sink, gave them a quick washing then plopped each into the dish washer that had been replaced the year before after the old one had stopped working. She went over and made herself a cup of coffee next, she'd do her usual afterwards.

Go up, take a shower then put some clothes on. Take the vacuum out of the closet, do the carpets then exchange the vacuum for a pair of gloves. The flowerbeds outside the front of her house were not being used for flowers, she had planted vegetables in them and she was tending them every day. She had carrots, tomatoes, radishes and cantaloupe growing in them flowerbeds, the neighbors thought that she was crazy for using the flowerbeds for something other than flowers but, in her mind, flowers were pretty but they didn't help any with the price of shopping. She knocked a few dollars off of the grocery list each month with her flowerbed-turned-garden produce. As she left the house, leaving the door slightly open for Natascha to go in and out of freely, she started thinking about the Kaufer house.

Kamilla and Luther Kaufer might have seemed to be good people on the outside but, on the inside, they had been right snobby and disrespectful. If they found out something about a neighbor they'd blab it out to everyone. If Natascha was seen running around her front yard at eight in the morning it was a sure bet that Kamilla would call Animal Control to report a stray, she had had to hash it out with Kamilla three times in the three years that she had known the woman about Natascha being let out to roam her yard. Natascha was a good dog, she was very obedient and she never ventured outside of her and Kurt's yard. She never dug holes in the front yard, she saved the back yard for that, and she never barked at people who walked by on their morning or afternoon walks. Kamilla had been born into a right rich family so Mitzi believed that she had been spoiled all her life. Luther had been particularly mean, if she or her husband had happened on him while out shopping for groceries and had said hello to the man he'd just stick his nose up in the air then walk on. He had gotten on Sarah and Petra for sitting out on the sidewalk several times, they had been doing nothing wrong, they had just been sitting on the sidewalk, enjoying a popsicle or talking. He had also had a way of snapping at her daughters when they had been in the back yard playing with Natascha. Needless to say, everyone had been pretty much on happy street when it had been learned that the two were about to lose their house, the neighborhood had gone back to being nice and friendly after they had gone.

Kamilla and Luther had left the house in such a disarray that it had been somewhat condemned, they had put holes in walls, had written all manner of horrid things on the walls, had destroyed the carpets that were in the house and they had also broken each and every window in the house. It had taken some months for all the repairs to be done to make the house look like new again, Mitzi hoped that the new owners would take care of the house because it looked like a really fine home to own and live in. Why someone would go and trash a home that they were about to lose was beyond her, it seemed very disrespectful towards the bank that was taking the home back and very degrading on the former owner's part. Kamilla and Luther had not been young people by any means, they had both been in their fifties but that meant nothing, really. Mitzi knew that there were lots of people out in the world that were in their fifties, it was like the spoiled apple in the bunch. There always was one in every group but, unlike the fruit that you simply removed then threw out, you really had to live with them types of people. You could voice your anger and frustrations but that was all, you just had to deal with them types of snobs or disrespectful people who gave not a care in the world about anyone or anything else. Just as Mitzi knelt down to tend her garden she looked back at the Kaufer house, she gasped a little startled gasp when she saw that the lights were on in one of the bathrooms before turning back to her garden.

"Mom, the power's on!" Lhaklar exclaimed after running down from the upstairs bedroom that he had sort of claimed as his.

"You sure?" Angel asked.

"Mmhmm," Lhaklar nodded his head. "I went up to my room, my hand accidentally knocked the switch to the on position. The domed light that's in the center of my room went on."

"Mr. Leinart must be turning the utilities on. The power and such." Angel said.

"Can he hurry up and get the wa-k-ter turned on? I need to take a piss some-k-thing fierce!" Guyunis exclaimed.

After Mr. Leinart had left they had wandered around, they had made a small flicker of flame appear in the center of their palms so they'd not be walking about in the dark so they could look around a little to stretch their legs as they had been pretty stiff from having to sit in the Shuttle Van that Mr. Leinart had driven them around in all night long. After about ten minutes of wandering about the house fatigue had struck them, they had all slept in the master bedroom for a few hours before the light from the sun had struck their closed eyelids, waking them up in the process. Guyunis had used his Mountain Lion pelt as a blanket while Bile had used his bear pelt, Hazaar and Lazeer had simply slept up against mom while he had slept sitting up in the corner. Soon after everyone had woken up the need to relieve their bladders had been the first thing on a majority of their must-do lists, either it had been the bathroom that was on the first level of the house or the second level's bathroom that they had used, the only one who had not used either bathroom was Guyunis, he plain refused to do so for his own, personal, reasons.

Mom had given him back his $2,222 and she had also given Guyunis back his $10,000 after Mr. Leinart had left them in the house, he had swiftly slid his returned money back into his wallet while Guyunis had tried giving his money back to mom, who had refused to take it back. She said that it was his, not hers but his so he had a right in keeping it. He had stuffed it into the pocket of his torn black jeans then he had gone off to the bedroom that was on the right side of the master bedroom, he had put his stuff into the room after giving it a once over then he had joined in with the wandering about. Bile had taken him to the side a few minutes after the wandering about had begun to tell him that Guyunis had said to him that he was slightly uncomfortable with having a room all his own and that he also had not a clue as to what to do with a room that would be all his. That was understandable, the kid had not ever had a room to call his own where he could do whatever the hell he wanted to in it or decorate it the way he wanted it to be decorated. Lhaklar was sure that his younger brother would shape up a few days after things had settled down, the first few days in a new home was always a little unsettling, everyone was always bumping into each other, there seemed to be no privacy and there was just a lot of nervousness involved with the unpacking.

Lhaklar was more concerned with how they were going to furnish the place, he was sure that his mother was going to get a job and he was sure that he was also going to get a job but he was also pretty sure that it'd take a right long time to furnish the place to make it look like a home instead of an empty building. $12,222 was not going to go far and there was quite a lot that was needed in the house. The stove, for example, would cost upwards of $700 to $1,000. The washer and dryer would be around the same price of around $600 and a refrigerator would cost over $1,000 then there were the beds, which would cost anywhere between $150 to $300 just for mattress with around $50 - $80 more for a frame, a couch or two which would cost around $320 to $350 and, of course, the furnishing for the kitchen which would require a table big enough to accommodate a family of six and the six chairs that would go along with it. That was just the start, that was the important stuff that was very needed for a home, for any home, not just a real house but any and all homes would need these things to be in them. There would be a need for bookshelves, for more tables and chairs, maybe some decorative carpets, tv's and dressers then there was the usual stuff that went with all that. The lamps, the blankets and sheets, the pillows and pillow cases, clocks, things to cook on like pots and pans and things to eat on like plates and bowl and the eating utensils and... oh gosh, that list went on and on. Here it was, maybe an hour, maybe two hours, past sun up and he was already becoming stressed out and he had it all to thank on his helping on the agreeing on this house being theirs. What had come over him, he had let his excitement over being in such a nice house cloud his better senses that was what had over come him and, sadly, he couldn't do anything to sway his mother from not getting the house now. Things had already started to set in the house, they had picked their rooms and their mom had already said yes to getting the house.

"Bile, you're in the kitchen right?" Angel asked, the last she had seen of her firstborn son that morning was when he had been heading off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Bile? Bile who? I know no fool named Bile." Bile said from the kitchen.

"Can you check to see if the water's been turned on?" Angel asked.

"Spigot's dry, ma." Bile said a few seconds later. "Guyunis, I do fear that the water will not be turned on today. You will have to either wait or use one of the toilets that has no water in it."

"Gross!" Guyunis exclaimed. "No way! Toilet with water in the bowl or-..."

"Guess you'll have to wait then, get the number for the hospital, ma. Guyunis shall have bladder infection by tonight's end." Bile said, he walked out from the kitchen.

"There's going to be a yellow river trailing down my leg in less than two minutes if there is no running water in this place! Can that human work any faster? I need to go and NOW!" Guyunis exclaimed loudly, he crossed one leg over the other than held them tight to emphasize his words.

"Momma, how much would it cost to get the carpet that is around him replaced if he pisses a river of yellow on it?" Hazaar asked, he had just walked in from outside, he had gone for a quick wander in the back yard.

"Boys, that's enough." Angel said, she shook her head in despair then she looked at Guyunis. "G, I am sure that Mr. Leinart is working as fast as he can to get everything turned on for us. Be patient, please. Try not to think about water or your need to urinate."

"Oh yeah, suuuuuuure!" Guyunis rang out, Bile, Lhaklar and Hazaar looked at him in shock. "That is always so easy for one to say who is not in need of a toilet."

"You're frustrated and you have a need, I understand that sweetie, but you need to be patient. If you can't hold it in then go outside if you don't want to use the bathroom in a dry toilet." Angel said.

Guyunis looked at the woman who had adopted him and who had shown him much more than what his former adoption families had shown him in shock. After spending a majority of his life with families that had either thrown into basements or attics that had a simple bucket in the space that served as his toilet and after having to sneak bathroom breaks in when everyone's backs were turned when he had been adopted by the Meyer family and after cleaning a lot of toilets in his tenure with the Meyer family he knew quite a lot about bathroom's; specifically toilets. It was bacteria central, even when clear it had bacteria in it and the bacteria actually got worse when the toilet had no water in it to flush any of the excrement that had been put into it. He was lucky to have his male parts between his legs, he had gotten plenty of infections from being forced to use a bucket as a toilet and from having to hold his stools in, he had had to threaten to turn Monika Graf and her husband, Mathis Meyer Sr. into child protective services twice when they had refused to take him to see a doctor when he had gotten a right nasty infection that had made his penis burn and turn a dark red color and he had done the same thing with Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr. when they had refused to take him to see a doctor when he had popped out in a rash down there.

He wouldn't threaten his new mum for the world, he knew that she wasn't trying to force him to keep in his liquid, she wouldn't have suggested for him to take a piss in a dry toilet or had told him to go outside to relieve himself, he loved the woman quite a lot, she was like a real mutter, as he called her, to him. She had done quite a lot for him in the last six months that the humans that had adopted him over the years had either refused to do or had done only after quite a lot of prompting. He didn't much like the idea of using the bathroom outside either, not only could someone see him as he whipped it out but he'd also have to worry about some animal springing up to bite him in an area that he did not want to be bitten. As he saw it, he had three options: Use the bathroom in a dry, bacteria loaded, toilet. Use the bathroom outside where others would probably see him and where he'd run the risk of getting a bite in a very sensitive spot or wait it out for the water to the house to be turned on. Guyunis leaned his head back, he chose the latter option as it seemed safer although, it too had an issue that went along with it. One couldn't hold in his or her liquid or waste for too long without running the risk of a bladder infection happening. He knew that, if he did get any infections, whether bladder or an infection somewhere else on his body, his new mum would take care of them by taking him to see a doctor. Guyunis had no more closed his eyes to keep himself in a calm state when they suddenly popped open, his youngest brother had started to sing.

"Ooooooh, Guyunis has to pee. Has to pee, has to pee. Guyunis has to pee a river or yellow. He won't use a dry toilet, he won't go wee outside, he's crying and bitching because he has to pee... has to pee." Lazeer had happened on his newest brother's complaining about having to go to the bathroom. For him, this was just too good an opportunity to wait. "Power's on, gas is probably on but the water is not and Guyunis has to pee... has to pee. Ooooooh, Guyunis has to pee or else there will be a yellow river in our new h-..."

"There's go-k-ing to be a baby brother gett-k-ing a knuckle sand-k-which in less than five seconds if he don't sh-k-ut up." Guyunis barked.

"Has to pee, has to pee, oh my older browder has to peeeeeeeeeeee." Lhaklar winced at how high his youngest brother had pitched that last note.

"Lazeer, that is quite enough." Angel said, Lazeer quickly clamped his mouth shut. "Hazaar, you in the kitchen now? Any water?"

He had to admit, that was pretty funny but he also had to admit that what Lazeer had just done with the singing about Guyunis needing to pee was way wrong and badly timed. Had it of been he who had been teased about having to go pee he'd of not hesitated to spring up, chase his brother then beat him to a pulp, Lazeer had a way of being annoying at times with his jokes and his way wrong timings but he was a good little brother, they all loved him despite his rudeness and his habit of joking too much. Hazaar went to the sink, the place where the refrigerator would go was directly behind and then four steps away from him and the place where the stove would go was on his left about three counters away. The sink's basin was gray, the faucet was chrome, it had one of them dials on it that pulled up then to the sides, he knew that for the water to be cold one would have to turn the dial to the left while if one wanted the water to be warm the dial would need to be turned in the other direction. The kitchen's countertops were lava rock quartz, the cabinets were charcoal cherry wood, there was a bar attached to the counter that went left around the kitchen, he could see three stools being put underneath its overhanging ledge. Hazaar grabbed the dial that was connected to the faucet then he pulled it up, he was expecting for no water to come through the end of the faucet but, to his surprise, cool water seeped out. Slowly at first, then faster as it made its ways through the dry pipes that it had once gone through when the house had been lived in before being put on the market.

"Mom! The water's-..."

"Out of my way!" Guyunis's loud call rang throughout the house loudly, it was quickly followed by the heavy footfall of boots as Guyunis ran to the bathroom that was on the first level of the house.

"Ma, didn't Mr. Leinart drive us in a van last night?" Bile asked.

"Yeah, one of them types that allows for more than four persons to ride inside." Angel replied. "Why?"

"One of them big vans just pulled up in front of the house." Bile said. "Has the name Depot and Furnishing on the side in big, black, bold, letters."

Bile and his brothers, sans Guyunis who was still in the first floor's bathroom taking a piss, ganged up on one of the windows that looked out on the street. One of them semi-trucks had pulled up in front of the house that Mr. Leinart had said he'd buy for them the night before before moving on, the person behind the wheel drove for only a few feet before turning down the drive way that was theirs. Angel gently pushed her sons to the side then she opened the door, she then went out to see what was going on. Bile craned his neck to see her as she walked down the sidewalk that led from the front porch, when she disappeared he left his brothers to go into the living room, when he looked through one of the two windows that were in the living room he saw that his mother was talking to four men, all of whom were wearing white biballs that had Depot and Furnishing on the front in bold, dark blue letters. Bile looked behind him only once when he felt a presence come up behind him then he looked forward again, he blinked his eyes when he saw Mr. Leinart's Shuttle Van drive up into the drive way. Mr. Leinart's Shuttle Van disappeared after its owned had driven it past the semi-truck, Bile didn't seen anymore of the vehicle after it had disappeared behind the semi but he saw Mr. Leinart walk towards his mother though. Bile was about to ask himself out loud what the hell was going on when, suddenly, two of the four men that had driven over in the semi-truck walked in. Both Bile and Guyunis scrambled to the arch that was in front of the living room to see what was going on, to their collective surprise and amazement they saw that the two men, who were pretty buff in muscle, were carrying a large box between them. They went into the kitchen, Bile and Guyunis followed at a distance as they walked then, when they went down into the basement which had a door that opened in on the kitchen Guyunis decided to stay behind. Bile went down for only a second to see what was going on, he hurried back up after he had seen what the two men were doing.

"Dude, they're putting a washer in there." Bile said to Guyunis.

"Figured it was something like that they were taking down there," Guyunis said, after he had finished using the bathroom he had happened on Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer pretty much playing kiss on the window that was in the front door, he had wondered where Bile was afterwards and had gone looking for him. Like his brothers, he had no clue as to what was going on, he was planning to stick near one of his brothers while all the commotion was going on inside the house.

"Anything I can do to help?" Bile asked after the other two men had walked into the kitchen with another box that was the exact same size as the one that the previous two men had carried down to the basement. Guyunis gave him a look then he backed a step away.

"Zu gutig, sir, lassen uns aber." one of the men, who had short brown hair and steely gray eyes, said in return. Bile nodded his head then he stepped back, the man had simply said in a polite fashion that they had it.

"First time seeing movers come into a new home of yours?" Bile looked over to the right, one of the men that had gone down to the basement had come up, he had blond hair and hazel eyes.

"Yes and no," Bile replied. "we had some help when we moved into the apartment in Wyoming but not much."

"This move for you six," Stefan said as he walked into the kitchen. "will be quite different. You'll have plenty of help on this move."

With the sun being up he had been able to see a little something different about two of the five children that Angel Irene had in her care. Lazeer, when he had walked into the house, was wearing a single glass over his left eye that looked to be made of a squishy, non-glass, material. It had a single elastic band to it that wrapped halfway around the youngsters head, his hair had not been hidden by the band and, in fact, he had had to look hard just to see the band as it was very nearly see-through. Guyunis, who he had seen quite a lot of even in the dark after he had gotten into his vehicle and then had walked into the two restaurants that he had taken the family to the night before, had a series of veins crossing over the muscle on his chest, shoulders and he also had visible veins on his arms, his body was very strong and very well-muscled. He still couldn't see the youngster's face as it was still black and the blue hoody was still on him, the kid had three deep scars going across both of his upper arms and a single, long scar that went across his chest. Stefan only needed to take one look at Guyunis to know that he had become somewhat unsettled with the activity that was going on, he was standing behind Bile and, whenever someone walked into the room that the two were in he'd look over at that person quickly.

He had done as he had said he would, he had bought the house for the family then he had gotten a title transfer form which Miss. Irene needed to sign, date and include some information of hers on. He had gone home for two hours for a short nap, he had slept very well then, when his wife had stirred beside him, getting up after the alarm clock had signalled the days start, he had gotten up too. He had showered, gotten dressed in a dark gray tuxedo then he had gone to begin the process of getting the utilities turned on in the house that he had just bought. The power had been turned on quickly, so had the gas, turning the water on had been a bit difficult but that had been switched on as well. He had also decided to get cable switched on for the house, everything was as it should be except for, of course, the house was empty. He had gone out to personally hand-pick the essential items; the stove, refrigerator and the washer and dryer, everything else would be following afterwards as he had plans to also buy all the other furnishing for the house. Angel Irene and her sons would have it easy on this move, before he had come by the house he had grabbed several catalogues from the best furniture stores in the area. Miss. Irene had, naturally, been somewhat taken aback by all this, she had politely told him that although she appreciated all that he was doing for her and for her sons she did wish he'd stop. He had known from the look on her face that she was only saying this because she didn't want him to become burdened by them, she cared and that was a good thing. After a little polite hashing in the drive way she had nodded her head, he had led her back inside, with all the commotion that was going on with the move the people around were taking notice. There were three ladies standing on the sidewalk, they were watching all that was going on and he could swear that they were also talking among themselves of what was going on. They were curious, that was a natural thing.

"You're mum and three of your bro's have already been given one of these," Stefan handed two of the catalogues and two pens that he had in his hands over, Bile took one then Guyunis took the other, in a slow and uncertain manner. "please, make your marks on what you'd like in your rooms on the pages. You're mum-..."

"Right here," Angel said as she walked in, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer walked in behind her. "Bile, Guyunis, pick a counter to place your catalogues on. Mr. Leinart, if you don't mind, I'll get started on the furnishing of the house before I deal with the master bedroom."

"What we want, mum?" Guyunis asked.

"Yes, sweetie. Whatever you see in that catalogue that you like you make a mark on it. Mr. Leinart says he will take care of it." Angel replied.

At first, he didn't know what to do. He had never been given this sort of opportunity, of choosing what he wanted in a room that he had been told would be all his. Lhaklar was out of the way of all the action that was going on with the movers bringing in and then setting up the stove, he had his catalogue open and was looking at what was on the pages. Hazaar was by the bar, the catalogue that he had been given had been opened, he looked to be on the fifth page of it. Lazeer was standing in front of the counter that was attached to the bar, his catalogue was open, it looked as if he was making a few marks on page three of the book and Bile was bent over right next to him. His oldest bruder's catalogue was open in front of him, he had gone through six of the pages that was in the book. Guyunis held the catalogue that he had been given by the human that was helping his family with the move, it was a right heavy book, it looked to have over fifty pages in it. At first, he took a step over in Bile's direction but then he decided against it, his bruder was busy and he probably didn't want him hugging up against him. There was a brief moment of panic for him when he realized that he'd need to pick a place all his own to look through the catalogue that he had been given, he got over it quickly then went towards the counter that was beside the newly installed stove. He placed his catalogue down, opened it then he clicked the button down on the pen that he had also been given. The first thing that he did was write his name on the back of the front flap, he figured that that was the right thing to do, if he didn't then what said that this human who said he was going to help his family didn't get the things then set them up in the wrong room? He next started looking at the pages that were in the book.

The first four pages were full of things for little children so he skipped onto the ones that followed after them. He liked the set of six, gray stone mantle shelves that were shown on the sixth page so he made a check mark beside them then he circled the word gray before going on to look at the rest of the page. He made a mark immediately after seeing the Shiro shelf, a shelf that had Birch branches that acted as the structured part that kept the shelves up. He added a check mark to the long bookshelf that had five shelves on it before turning the page. The next two pages had beds on them, he slowly scanned through them, all the while remembering that the last bed that he had slept on while in a civilized home was an old mattress that's stuffing, foam and springs had been nearly, completely, gone. He liked the Tioga bed quite a lot, it looked like it belonged in a cabin, he made a check mark on the little square that was next to the bed's description then he went on. Since he already had the bed he liked marked he skipped the next few pages, after turning three pages he stopped, he was now on the dresser section of the catalogue. He made a check mark on the little square by the Reclaimed Barnwood dresser's description just as he decided that looking through the catalogue and picking the furnishing for his own room was fun. He turned the pages slower, checking through them as he went along at an even slower pace, until he stopped at the section for the bed side tables. Would he need one? Well, if the human was willing to toss his cash in the air for him and his family then, yeah, sure, why not. He started looking and, soon after, found and then check marked the Mango Wood Bedside Cabinet.

"Mum said she'd take care of the furnishing of the house," he thought when he got to the pages that had the couches, chairs and other main items that went in a house. "no need to look through these pages."

He went on to the lamp section, even though he knew his mutter was doing the main furnishing of the house he wanted to see if he could get a lamp or two in his room as well as a rug. Although the lamp of the pooping dog was funny, he laughed inside when he saw it on the page, he didn't make a mark on the page for the man to get it for him. Just because the man had said the word tits the night before didn't mean that he was okey-dokey or cool on things such as pooping dog lamps. He liked the Forkalier Lamp, a sculptured lamp made of twisted metal that a thin material was stretched across, the inside of the lamp was where the bulb went. He check marked the square beside the description of the lamp then he looked for one more lamp. The lamp on the other page, a Nuke-shaped lamp that lit all up a golden-yellow color, he greatly liked so he check marked that twice then circled, he hoped that the human got the point about the double checking and the circle that was around the lamp's picture. Although he looked through the rest of the pages that had lamps on them he didn't make anymore check marks or circle any other pictures, when he got to the section that had the rugs he got down to business in really looking the images and the descriptions over. He quickly made a mark on the Rusty Brown Icelandic Sheepskin rug then he made another mark equally as fast on the Wild Mannered Luxury Long Faux Fur rug that was 3'4 x 4'10 long. He wasn't expecting to make anymore check marks but, when he saw the Reindeer Fur Rug he just had to have it. He made a check mark on the square beside the description of that then he closed the catalogue, when he looked over he saw that his bruders were all doing the same as he. His mum, he saw, was still making marks in the catalogue that she had been given. It took her all of five minutes more before she made the last mark in the book.

"You are a very kind man, Mr. Leinart." Angel said, she gave him the catalogue that she had made her marks in then she held her hand out. Guyunis watched in stunned disbelief as the human that she had given the catalogue to grabbed her hand firmly then shook it.

"My pleasure, Angel." Stefan said, he then drew up to her closer, Guyunis thought that the man was going to plant one on his mother. Instead, the man just asked her one, simple, question. "I noticed that while you was filling the title transfer that you have a driver's license."

"Yes, rather ancient." Angel replied, she gestured to her sons to walk forward to give the man their catalogues, which they did quickly. "It's just as old as Bile it, my first and my only."

"Have a vehicle to drive by any chance?" Stefan asked, he had suddenly gotten an idea.

"No, I had to leave my one on a different planet." Angel replied.

"Think they'd be okay left alone for thirty minutes?" Stefan asked.

"Depends on the reason why I'm leaving them alone." Angel said.

"I'd like to take you to one of the dealerships in these parts, buy you a car then do another title transfer." Stefan said.

"Mr. Leinart, that is a really nice offering but I can't ac-..."

"I insist."

"Mr. Leinart-..."

"Miss. Irene, I am firm on this. I do not want you walking from store to home, although this neighborhood and town is a nice one there is still a chance that you could be grabbed up by some predator." Stefan said.

"Never had to worry about that before." Angel said, the look in Stefan's eye told her that he was going to do what he had offered regardless of what she said on it. She sighed, defeated, then she looked at her sons. "Bile, Lhaklar, you two are in charge while I'm out. I'll only be out for half an hour, an hour at max, okay?"

"Bile and I will keep everyone at bay, mom." Lhaklar promised.


	5. Chapter 5

The men from Depot and Furnishing finished up setting the stove, refrigerator, and the washer and dryer just as their mother left them alone at the house. She got into the Shuttle Van of Stefan Leinart without much fuss then they drove off, she had left them no instructions but they all sort of already knew that they were to stay inside. The semi-truck left five minutes after they did, the neighborhood went back to being quiet and peaceful again but, thirty-five minutes after their mother left the peace and quiet that was in the house was sort of replaced by heavy tension. While Bile and Lhaklar were seated in front of the kitchen, near the archway that led out to the hallway, Hazaar and Lazeer were seated near the window. They were talking about what all they had seen in the catalogues that had been given them and what all they had marked that they had liked. Guyunis, on the other hand, was seated all by his lonesome in a corner. If he had stood up he would have started pacing, he was nervous because he and his brothers had been left alone in a strange house that was in a strange neighborhood that was full of humans that were nothing more than strangers to them. He had lost track of the time, although it was only thirty-five minutes after his mother had left with Mr. Leinart to him it felt more like forever. Mr. Leinart had left them something to eat, foam containers that contained a single pancake, a helping of hash browns and eggs, they had eaten soon after the activity around the house had stopped and the semi-truck with the four men wearing white biballs had left. There had been nothing to drink with their meal but that was okay, they had all been too excited to think about drinking anything at the time.

"Did you see that lamp that, when plugged in, looks like a man trying to pull the plug out from the wall?" Lazeer asked Hazaar.

"Hell yeah, did you see the Leg Lamps? I bet Bile asked for one of them." Hazaar replied.

"That lamp of the dog taking a poop was hilarious!" Lazeer said loudly. "Which lamp did you ask for?"

"Only when it is put up in my room shall you know." Hazaar said.

"Bile, what'd you ask for?" Lazeer asked, he was very excited, he was like a kid in a candy store at that particular moment.

"The Spine Lamp, Bro. Thought it was cool." Bile replied.

"Spine Lamp? I didn't see any Spine Lamps in the catalogue that I was given." Guyunis said. "Where'd you see that?"

"On the back of the back flap," Bile replied, Guyunis now knew why he had missed seeing that lamp. He had not even given it a thought about looking at the back of the back flap of the catalogue that he had been given. "what lamp did you ask for, G?"

"The Fork-k-alier and the lamp shaped like the plume that k-comes up after a nuk-k-e was detonated." Guyunis replied.

"Good, damn, choices!" Bile said. "You asked for two?"

"Yeah," Guyunis looked down in a sort of embarrassed shame.

"Asked for three, you dorks will have to wait until everything's delivered to see what they look like." Bile said, he smiled an evil smile, the fangs that were on his top and lower teeth showed clearly.

They said not a thing more, they all went into quiet mode, they heard the sound of some kids talking outside and they all slowly looked out the window. It was a group of five kids, all girls, and they were walking by the house. The girl in the front, who had brown hair and was wearing a gray blouse and some blue jeans, turned to look at the house and they all ducked down out of view. Guyunis felt a sort of wanting to look again after a few minutes had passed, he stood up then crossed the room to look out the window, the girls were all still there and when they saw him they began to point and then chat amongst themselves madly. He left the window to take his seat back in the corner afterwards, he wasn't entirely new to this girl gossip thing, he had heard it all before with the teenage girls that his former adoption families had had. They saw something then they turned and started up a ruckus about that something in an elevated, silly way. That was the way them things went; the boys talked tough while the girls talked in an elevated, silly, girlie way. Soon after he sat down in the corner Lazeer stood up, as soon as he was in view of the group of girls that were outside the house the elevated talking that they were doing grew higher. Guyunis had no choice but to laugh after his youngest bruder had sat back down.

"Girlies will drive anyone k-crazy." he said after he had laughed.

"The way they talk is outrageous!" Bile exclaimed, he then started imitating a girl. "Did you seeeee them shooooes? Oh they were soooo cuuuute! How about that perfume? Bottle was so beautifully made and the smell is sooooo good."

"You are pathetic!" Lhaklar said between laughs.

Guyunis quieted up, he went back to thinking what he had been thinking of before the girls, which he called girlies, had shown up. He didn't want to rain on anyone's parade or down any of the mood that was in the room so he kept his thoughts to himself. Although he had had fun looking for things to put in his room he was now very certain that the human that had said he'd take care of the cost of the things wasn't going to get it all. Humans had a way of being sneaky, they said that they were going to do something and they never did and whenever they did do something that they had said they'd do it was usually done some time later. He figured that if it was just the main furnishing that he had asked for being brought in he'd be happy, if the guy actually went on to get him the two lamps and the rugs that he had also asked for he'd be really surprised. He did understand what his new mum was trying to do, he wasn't stupid by any means but he did think that her trying might not have a good pay-off. He still had a lot of fear towards her sending him away, he fell asleep some nights to dream dreams that were nothing more than nightmares of his waking up to find the people at the orphanage talking to his new mum then them coming towards him to cart him away. His mum had shook him awake several times when he had had them dreams, he had cried out and screamed when he had had them dreams, he had woken her up and had scared her and, by his doing that he had grown even more scared. Some nights he found himself sleeping almost on top of her, it seemed that them dreams went away when she was close to him.

Hazaar left the room, Guyunis listened closely as he went upstairs to what he believed was his bedroom where he had put his stuff the night before. His bruder stayed upstairs for only a minute, when he came back into the room he had several magazines with him. Hazaar read hunting and pornographic magazines most but he also would read an occasional fishing magazine, the magazines that he had brought down where June and July's Playboy editions, he sat down beside Lazeer and, together, they started looking at the magazines. Bile got up next, he said nothing as he left the room, Guyunis listened in as his oldest bruder went upstairs to his picked room. Bile was only gone a minute, when he returned he had two magazines with him; last month's Hustler, another pornographic magazine, and Knives, a magazine totally devoted to knives or other sharp knife-like instruments. Soon after Bile had sat down Lhaklar got up, he left the room, went upstairs to his picked room then he came back down with two of his own magazines. Guyunis saw that they were that month's In-Fisherman and Sport Fishing magazines. He had learned very quickly that all of his new bruders read much the same but they all still preferred to have separate magazines, he figured that that stopped fights from happening, the kind where one brother wanted to read a specific magazine but the other brother had yet to read it or had somehow lost it or something like that. Seeing as he didn't want to be left out, Guyunis stood up, stretched then he went up to the room that he had shyly claimed as his own.

Although he had all of the current month's hunting and fishing magazines in his jean bag he also had magazines that were devoted to log homes, cabins and tattoos as well. He liked log homes, they were peaceful and unique, and he also liked tattoos because they were cool. His new mum had given him a look after catching him reading March's Tattoo Society, a magazine devoted to tattoos. She had told him that she was fine with him looking at the magazines on that material but he was not allowed to get one. Mutter's knew their children almost like books, they didn't need to be told most things, they simply had to look to know what was going on within their kids' heads and his new mum had shown that clearly with him. He had got hot in the face then he had said okay before going back to reading his magazine. He knew that the process of getting a tattoo was painful and it could also be dangerous, there had been reports of people getting HIV and AIDs from the artist using a dirty or used needle on their clients and there had also been reports of infections happening as well.

He had that current month's issue of Tattoo Society in his jean bag along with Tattoo, Inked, Log Home Living, Country's Best Cabins and Cabin Life. He also had Hunting, Field and Stream, Gun Hunter, Turkey and Turkey Hunting, Bowhunter, Bow and Arrow, Deer and Deer Hunting, Bassin', In-Fisherman, Fly Fishing, Modern Fishing, Adventure Fishing and Fly Rod and Reel along with the few copies of Penthouse, which was a Pornographic magazine, in his bag. Lhaklar had more issues that he on the fishing magazines while he and his other bruders were pretty evenly matched, he liked that quite a lot. There were a lot of similarities between him and his bruders, like the one that had just fallen out from his bag. As he bent down to put the HB cigarette pack back into his bag he remembered the look on his new mum's face when she had seen him stick one of the white papered tobacco sticks that had a yellowish-gold end into his mouth. He had thought that he was in trouble but, to his surprise, she had just given her head a shake then had told him to be careful on smoking them smokes of his. She had said for him to not smoke but so much a day which he had promised that he wouldn't. He had started slipping Lenora Meyer's cigarettes after the fifth year that he had been in their home, he had taken from the box, had slipped what he had taken into his pocket then he had gone on. The cigarettes had been a simple outlet then for his frustrations, they were just a habit now. Besides the HB cigarettes he also smoked Gold Flake, the tobacco was right good in the paper. His bruders also smoked, Lhaklar was fond of the cigarette brand called Black Devil, a Netherlands brand that's Indian tobacco was wrapped in a black paper. Hazaar smoked Kamel Light Red's, Newport's and Marlboro's while Lazeer simply grabbed a cigarette from either Hazaar or Lhaklar to smoke. Bile smoked the good stuff, as he saw it. He smoked med-grade weed, that despite it's med-gradiness was actually really good. Mum allowed them to smoke but only so much in a day, she didn't want their lungs to get hurt, and she also let them read whatever magazines they wanted to. She was a good mum, Guyunis could see why his bruders loved her so much, he felt just as much love towards her as her biological children and she treated him like one of the family when was also great and, like his bruders, he was protective of her which was new. He had never shown protectiveness towards any of his former adoptive mutters before, this was a first and he was glad for it as it showed that he was settled into the family. When that man had pulled up close to her he had tensed up, he had been ready to spring forward at any indication that that man was about to hurt her but, for the man's sake, nothing had happened. Guyunis grabbed June and July's Tattoo and Inked editions then he left his bedroom.

"Tattoos," Bile said after Guyunis had taken his seat back in the corner of the room. "I'm surprised you haven't got an interest in knives or motorcycles."

"I do have an interest in motorcycles," Guyunis replied. "just haven't gotten any magazines on them."

"You'll have to start getting some motorcycle magazines next month," Lhaklar said.

Bile nodded his head then he went back to his magazine, Knives had several forms attached to the pages that had collectible knives and their prices on them, he had a mind to put a bug in his mother's ear about it. It was an embellished Bowie knife with the handle having wolf engravings carved into it and the stainless steel blade had a lazer-burned wolf mother and cubs on it. The cost was just $29.95, with $5.00 extra for shipping and handling. Bile turned the page, he read on for a short while about the banned Switchblades that he knew were very dangerous but looked damn cool then he went on to the next page. As he looked at the poster that was in the center of the magazine, a cool, glowing green knife that had a yellow blade, he found himself thinking back to when his dreaded father, who he referred to as Dark Dad, had come by the tunnel that people took while on their route to other place that were within the shields and then had started taking over the Americas. He had been all for staying in North America and putting up a bruiser of a fight, he had wanted to teach his father a thing or two but his mother had pointed out some very important things to him that had stopped that wish to remain quickly.

He knew that his father had killed his older, half-sister after she had taken up arms against him when he had been sicking his forces on Gamma-Vile and he also knew that he had promised another of his older half-sister's, who happened to be his great-great grandmother, a lifetime of torture and captivity in the cells that were in his basement. His father had tried to kill Lhaklar when he had been an infant, he had tried to kill him as well when he had been no more than a year old and then he had tried to make ma abandon them. He had actually killed his mother by thrusting his hand into her, with his long, dark blue fingernails held out like daggers, there was no telling what he'd do if he found out that they were all on Earth. For all any of them knew, he could try to imprison all of them, separate them from their mother or worse, kill them all just for the hell of it. Guyunis was just as threatened by the man as they were, Dark Dad would probably see him as another threat then say for him to have his head lopped off or something like that. They had left North America as a family, as a full, intact, not-injured family and, so far, they had been safe. Bile closed his magazine, put it off to the side then he grabbed the Hustler magazine. He had no more opened the magazine when a car's horn started blaring.

"It's either that that damn human is just plain stupid or the person that he or she is trying to reach is deaf." Hazaar said, he was annoyed, the human who was blasting the car's horn had been doing so for nearly twenty seconds.

"Humans plain like to make noise, just ignore it." Guyunis said when the car's horn continued to blare.

The car's horn continued to blare it's loud call throughout the neighborhood for ten seconds more before Bile finally stood up to see what the hell was going on. Mr. Leinart had said that the neighborhood was safe, well if there were humans going around, laying and then leaving their hands on the car's horn then that assumption needed to be double checked. Bile went over to the window that was beside the one that Hazaar and Lazeer were underneath, his jaw dropped when he saw the Shuttle Van that Mr. Leinart drove turn into the drive way that went along with their house and the car that followed behind it. The car was dark blue, it had what looked to be two headlights in one dome on the front and the grille was light silver in color with the fenders being nearly the same shade of blue as the rest of the car. What made his jaw nearly drop was the fact that it was his own mother sitting behind the driver's seat. Bile was about to call his brother's over to take a look when, suddenly, four semi-trucks pulled up. Two of them parked in the drive way while the other two parked on the curb. Bile didn't waste breath on telling his brothers what was going on, he left the window then the living room then he went outside.

"Ma, what-..." Bile started to say after he had reached the carport.

"Ya like, Biley?" Angel asked her son. "It's one of them Porsche D2's, new model. Has remote control doors and the hood and trunk are also remote-controlled."

The vehicle that his mother had driven up in was a four-door, the car seats that were in the car were a dull black, the dash-board was dark blue while the steering wheel was black on one side and electric blue on the other. The carpet on the floor of the car and the polyester that was on the ceiling of the car was dark blue. The car had that new-car smell to it that was sort of pungent, Bile found himself liking it and yet hating it at the same time. The exhaust in the back was short and the wheels on the car had thin rims on them. His mother had some paperwork in her hand and a single key ring that had a copper-colored key and a remote control device on it. Stefan Leinart got out of his Shuttle Van slowly then he looked over, Bile took one look behind him to see that all of his brothers had come out after he had, they were all staring in shock at the car. After he had seen his brothers Bile saw that there was a ring of humans looking at all that was going on, just as he saw the ring of humans the people that were in the semi-trucks started taking things out of backs of their vehicles.

"You boys hurry on to your rooms now, show them fellows where you want your stuff put." Angel said, her sons all high-tailed it back into the house quickly afterwards.

Petra never did go out with her friends to the mall, after she and her friends had seen the trucks roll up then the carting in of the big boxes that contained a stove, refrigerator and a washer and dryer and then the red-haired woman leaving the house with the president of Germany a little while later they had decided to stick around a while to see what was going on. Petra had gone across the street to Kirstin Abbing's place, she had Kirstin had been friends for a while now so it was perfectly fine and, since her friend was equally curious and since they knew that it was rude to just stand in the street and watch the proceedings as they happened the trip across the street was a good idea. After twenty minutes had passed after the red-haired woman had left with the president they had left the house, she and five of her friends who had all shown up after Kirstin had called them, they had simply done a little walking down the street, had done some talking and then, after the dark-skinned kid had shown up in the window their talk had gone sort of wild. The kid, who looked around nineteen years of age, had left the window after they had done so, he had been replaced by a different kid who they had screamed about while on the way back to the Abbing's house.

The first kid had looked pretty rugged, pretty strong with good muscle on his body but his face had been very dark and, curiously, he had been wearing a pair of yellow glasses over his eyes. From what they had seen, he had also not been wearing a shirt. The second kid looked younger, he looked around sixteen or so years old and he did look cute. Kai Berg said that the kid looked familiar, she hadn't really been a big participant in the gossiping about the kid that they had done but she had participated. Anja Bayer, who lived on the next street over with her grandparents, had said that she liked the first kid better than the second while Letta Carver, who lived right beside Petra and her family, had said that the second kid looked better than the first. They had talked for a while longer then, when the car horn had started blaring, they had left the Abbing house. Petra had seen her mother standing with a few of the neighbors and she had led her group of friends over, she had no more reached the adults when Bile had ran out of the house, with the dark-skinned kid and the other kid, who they had automatically known was Lazeer, and Lhaklar and Hazaar had following soon after.

Trucks had pulled up, people had started moving furniture into the house, Angel Irene had done a slow walk around the house with the dark-skinned kid walking nearly on top of her a few times before going back inside and then everyone had sort of dispersed. Her friends had gone home, the neighbor's had gone home and she and her mother had gone into their house, they would periodically see Bile or the dark-skinned kid as they crossed in front of the windows that were in the two rooms that faced her and her parents' house and they would also see the furniture people as they moved the furniture around. Everyone gave the family that had just moved in some privacy while they were fixing their home up but everyone was mostly thinking the same. Angel Irene and her sons had moved into the Kaufer house, were they going to stay and reside in the house for a while or were they going to be discovered by that vile Master Vile then carted off and why was Stefan Leinart a part of the move? At twelve some newspaper journalists showed up, someone had slipped in town about Angel Irene and her sons moving into the house and the journalists just had to check it out. Mr. Leinart had sent them off, they got no pictures and they all said that they'd respect the privacy of the family that were now going to be residing in the house. An hour after that the furniture people left the house, they climbed into their semi's then drove off quietly. Mr. Leinart stayed at the house for thirty minutes more then he left, it was just the Porsche D2 in the drive way and the house was very quiet. Petra figured that the family that were inside it were just sitting down, probably calming down after a hard and exciting day. At six-thirty, a Domino's car pulled into the drive way of the Kaufer house, the guy that was dressed in a pair of black pants and a red and white checkered shirt delivered five pizzas before leaving a few seconds later.

"Whatcha doin, mumma?" Sarah asked, her mother was at the stove, she was taking a square cooking pan out of the oven.

"Making a batch of brownies for Miss. Irene and her sons." Mitzi replied. "Sort of tradition, girls. I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

"Who was that one kid? The dark-skinned one." Petra asked. "Mum, do you know?"

"I have not a clue, if he's with Miss. Irene then it's a sure bet that he's one of her kids." Mitzi replied.

"The books only note her as having four kids," Sarah said. "Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer."

"Sometimes books don't include things," Mitzi replied.

"I see him," Sarah said after she had gone to help her mother cut the brownies into small squares. "Lhaklar is the one who has green skin, right?"

"Mint-green, yes." Mitzi said.

"I just saw him, I really like them eyes that he has. Very shiny."

"Probably inherited from his dat," Mitzi replied. "his datty happens to be Miss. Irene's great-uncle. Hazaar and Lazeer are also from the pair."

"Mrs. Fayner just went over," Petra said, she had gone to look at the house from the window that was built into the dar side of the living room. "she has a tray with her."

"Everyone's making them feel welcome," Mitzi smiled. "that's a good thing, they'll feel welcome and they'll calm down faster."

"Why here, though?" Sarah asked. "Why-..."

"Why does anyone chose anyplace to live, Sarah?" Mitzi gave her youngest daughter a watch-it look. "They probably saw Germany as a safe place. Master Vile's not here, they won't be bothered by the man. Mr. Leinart is probably the one who brought them to this neighborhood."

"I'd bet my arm that he's helping them with everything, he's been in and out of that house all day long." Petra said.

"If he is then that's good, with all that they have gone through they would need a lot of help to get started." Mitzi replied, she had actually voted for Stefan Leinart's campaign, her husband had voted for the other guy.

Petra went back to the living room, she looked out the window and saw that there were more people walking over to the Kaufer's old house. Mrs. Fayner had obviously left already, it looked like Mr. and Mrs. Bluhm were walking away from the house now but here came Mrs. Basinger, Mrs. Dreyfuss and Mr. and Mrs. Geller with their eighteen year old daughter, Lucretia. They all had things in their hands that they were bringing the family that now lived in the house. As Petra watched she also saw Kirstin and her parents walk across, they each had a plate in their hands. Petra remembered when her parents had moved to the area, she had been three years old and the neighbors had done the same for her family as they were with Miss. Irene and her family. Plastic plates of cookies, bowls of pudding, cakes, brownies... even jello had been given to them as welcome-to-the-neighborhood gifts, they had had so much dessert foods stocked in the fridge that they had not needed to prepare or make any desserts for months. Five families had walked over to the former Kaufer house, all with food to give as welcome-to-the-neighborhood gifts and, from what she had seen in the kitchen, there was about to be a sixth added soon.

Petra found herself thinking about that dark-skinned kid again, there was something that fascinated her about him. Was it the fact that he was very well-muscled? No, it couldn't be that. Bile was also very muscular. Was it the fact that he had pitch-black skin? Maybe, it could also be the yellow glasses that he had been wearing that had also grabbed her attention. They had glowed, they had looked like flashlight beams, she had never seen glasses that looked like them. Lazeer had also been wearing something over his left eye but it was in no way comparing to them glowing glasses that that other kid had been wearing. Here it was, nearly time for her father to return home from work and nearly time for her mother to head out to take his place at the hospital and all she could think about was what had happened all throughout that day. By the time that her mother had walked in, a plastic plate of brownies having been lightly covered in aluminum foil, she was feeling shivers roll up and down her arms. If anyone had of asked her if she had formed a sort of first-sight crush on that dark-skinned kid she would have quickly said no.

"Petra, you and Sarah come along now." Mitzi said, when Petra did a little startled jump she shook her head. "Need to deliver these, say a few words then come back. I have work in less than twenty minutes and your father will be home in five minutes."

As he looked around the room that was across the hall from Bile's he couldn't help but smile, everything that he had asked for had been gotten for him and he had been allowed to give orders out to the humans on where he had wanted that stuff to go. Up against the wall that was on the left side of his room there was his bed, he had asked for a single but Mr. Leinart had actually bought him a full. The frame was one of them Astrid Queen Platform types, the legs that held the bed up had been set in a splayed out way which he had liked. The mattress had no sheets or blankets on it, there were no pillows either. Beside the bed there was the distressed wooden side table that was stained a black color, the table had been painted an eco-friendly "driftwood" milk color which he had liked a lot, the paint gave the table an aged look. On the surface of the table there was the lamp that he had asked for, he had given the thought of putting a check mark on the pooping dog lamp but, after he had seen the dinosaur lamp that had plastic Stegosaurus's, velociraptor's, Tyrannosaurus Rex's and Triceratops's on its base he just had to have it. The lamp had a dark yellow shade on it that went well with the rest of the lamp. On the right side of the room, shoved up against the corner, was the dresser that he had asked for, it was one of them stained, oak hardwood dressers that had seven drawers on it, and, placed beside that, was the bookshelf that he had asked for, it was 71" high, had five shelves on it and it was painted a royal cherry color. The bookshelf had just two things on it, at the moment, and that was the Dinosaur Night Light that he had also asked for. That baby was made of a plastic material that had been painted dark green, the back of the dinosaur had been given a double coat of paint, a light, fluorescent, green. When the light was turned on the back of the dinosaur went an orange-green color which he thought was cool. The UFO lamp that's base had a barn and barn house painted on it and a cow that was hovering above the painted landscape had been the final lamp that he had asked for. Mr. Leinart had gone and bought him a 30" flat screen tv as well, that had been mounted up on the wall across from the bed by one of the men that had brought his things in. He had asked for the Optical Illusion Rug, an Indian Rug imitation, and Mr. Leinart had gotten him that as well, that was right beside his bed.

Despite the furniture that was now in the room that he had claimed as his he still felt that it was empty. He had yet to put up what all he had in his duffel bag, there had been too much going on for him to do that. The newspaper reporters that had shown up had slowed down progress on their setting up their rooms for only a short few minutes, Mr. Leinart had sent them off politely and they had not come back so they had really not hindered their room's furnishing process. Guyunis had been a trooper throughout a majority of the activity that was going on in their house until them journalists had shown up. He had had one of his freak-out moments and mom had had to take him out for one of them releaser walks around the house. They had gone around the house slowly, he had seen Guyunis nearly walking on top of her a few times before they had disappeared going around to the back yard. After the slow walk, they had come back in and Guyunis had resumed saying where he wanted the things that he had asked for to be put. Mom had done the living room, kitchen and dining room first before moving onto the master bedroom which was hers. In all, it had taken a few hours to get everything set up to the way they wanted it to be, the humans that had come in to set up their stuff had remained friendly, even when Guyunis had had his freak-out moment they had remained friendly.

Mom had been surprised by Mr. Leinart when he had slid an envelope that contained $5,000 cash in it, the man had said that it was a gift from the People of Germany and from the People of Earth, he had refused to take it back even though she had said that she couldn't accept it. He had left without the money and they had had a breather moment for a short while before the question of what they wanted for supper. Since Mr. Leinart had gotten the phone bill paid and had personally bought them four phones they had all decided on having a light supper of pizza for the night. Mom had called up Domino's, had ordered two cheese and two pepperoni and a meat lovers pizza that had cheesy bits on them and the restaurant had delivered them quickly. They had enjoyed the pizzas, had just gotten to having a third piece placed on their plastic plates when the knocking on the door had started. Guyunis had gone stiff with fright for only five seconds before calming down, mom had stayed in the room with them until he had calmed down then she had gone to see who it was that had knocked on the door. They had all expected for their visitor to be Mr. Leinart but, surprisingly, it had been a neighbor bringing a little something to them as a welcome gift.

Mrs. Zelma Fayner had come in for only a second, had given the interior a quick look, had said hello to them then she had handed a plastic plate of German Chocolate Cake to their mother before leaving. Peter and Mandy Bluhm had come next, they had brought a plastic bowl of jello with them, their welcoming gift to them. Mrs. Marlene Basinger had come by the house soon after, she had given a thick plastic plate of Black Forest Cake as a welcome gift before leaving then Christa Dreyfuss had been let in, Mrs. Dreyfuss had given them a large bowl of Franbrotchen, a small, sweet pastry that was made of flour, butter, yeast, milk, sugar and a pinch of salt that had a filling of sugar and cinnamon. Claude and Pia Geller and their daughter, Lucretia, had come by next with a bowl of Berliner, a type of pastry that looked similar to a jelly donut, and then Mr. and Mrs. Abbing and their daughter, Kirstin, had walked over to say hello, they had had a plate each of Berker cookies, a buttery, vanilla waffer topped with thick, cream fudge, for them. Their mother had accepted each gift, had said her thanks and had asked for their guests to come in, each one had politely said that they couldn't, each of the people that had come by had said that they didn't want to impose on them or make them feel uncomfortable in their new home then they had left.

Lazeer reached up and rubbed the back of his right shoulder gently, during the meal of pizza he had asked Guyunis if he was still going to kick his ass after he had sang about his little problem in needing to use the bathroom yet not wanting to because there had been no water in the toilet. Guyunis had said nothing back, he had simply reached over, grabbed a napkin, wiped his hands then he had stood up. He had not had time to get away, his older, adopted, brother had swung his fist at his backside quick. He had felt an explosion of pain, he had yelled out in pain and mom had said for Guyunis to sit down afterwards. The back of his shoulder was still throbbing but the pain wasn't as bad now. After mom had given Guyunis a little chiding Guyunis had looked at him, had apologized then had said that he had been given payback for his song-doing. Bile had laughed, Hazaar had given Guyunis, who he had been sitting beside, a punch in the arm and Lhaklar had said good going, G. Lazeer had a feeling that his shoulder would have a bruise on it by morning's start, if not sooner, Guyunis had punched him pretty hard after all. He guessed that he would have done the same thing had Guyunis of done something similar to him, he was being a sport about his older brother punching him. Guyunis's punch was just as powerful as Bile's and, since he and Bile had had their moments where punches were given out, he had just taken Guyunis's swinging at him as one of them moments where brothers had their physical fights. He was glad that it had been his shoulder, had it of been his head he would probably not be standing and walking around at the moment.

"Lazeer, come down honey." Angel called up. "Need some help for a sec."

"Coming."

He walked quickly down the still naked hallway that had not had any pictures or paintings added to its walls then he went down the stairs, what met his eyes made him stop in his tracks. There was his mom, looking as beautiful as ever, gently pushing a tack into the wall from which a photograph would hang from. He asked no questions on what she wanted him to do, he went forward to help her put more tacks in the wall. Soon after he had pushed the first one in he saw his mother reach down into a box, this box she had sort of stole from the back of a Walmart, it was medium-sized and it had several things in it of theirs that were important. She had put nothing up on the walls so the box had, obviously, just been retrieved from its hiding place down in the ground. She took up a wooden frame that held a photograph of all six of them in it. The photograph had not been taken with a camera, Lhaklar had made it after he had taken the memory of their mother bringing Guyunis to them after she had discovered him six months before in the Black Forest. They were all surrounding Guyunis, who was tearing up something awful, Bile had his hand on Guyunis's shoulder while Hazaar and he had ganged up on him for a dual hug. The corners of Lazeer's O-shaped mouth curved up gently, that night would forever be in his memory forever. He had gained a new brother, one who he had grown up with on several occassions.

"You putting all of them up, mama?" Lazeer asked.

"Sure am, all very precious memories." Angel replied, she hung the photograph up then she reached down for another frame, this one had five photographs in it, all of the photographs were of them when they had been infants, there was even a photo of Guyunis from when he had just been born in it. Lhaklar had gotten Guyunis's permission to go get it from his memory banks just for the frame.

"How big was he when he was a newborn, ma?" Lazeer asked, like Bile, he used the words ma and mama when referred his mother.

"Weighed eight and a half pounds, chunky thing." Angel replied, she hung the frame that had the five photographs in it on the wall. "He was twenty-one inches long."

"He rival his father in newborn weight and length?"

"Almost, his father was weighed in at nearly nine pounds after birth. He was twenty-three inches long." Angel replied.

She hung a framed photographed, another one taken from her memory banks, of Hazaar from when he had been three hundred and eighty years old next. In the photograph he was walking down the stairs in their old Canadian apartment, he was wearing a pair of dark green and blue feetsie pajamas and he had his left arm up, he was wiping the sleep out of his eyes with the hand that was attached to that arm. The next photograph she hung up was on him, it was another one that Lhaklar had taken from her memory banks. In this photograph he was two hundred and eighty years old, he was clinging to the banister of the stairs right tightly, he was refusing to come down because he was afraid that he'd trip and fall. He moved over to give her room, she put up a photograph of Bile from when he had been six hundred and forty-one years old. His then-six hundred and forty-one year old brother was holding him, he had been no more than a hundred and forty-one years old at the time.

The photograph she put up next was another of Bile at age six hundred and forty-one years, he was holding both Hazaar, who was two hundred and forty-one years of age, and him on his lap. He moved over another step, his mother put up another photograph quickly, this one was of Lhaklar, then a five hundred and forty-one year old, holding both him and Hazaar. That photograph had been taken at the same time as the two previous photographs that she had just hung up on the wall. He stuck one more tack in the wall then he backed away, his mother put up a photograph that had her sitting down in a flower patch with him on her lap, Hazaar, who was seated beside her and Bile and Lhaklar who were standing behind her. That photograph had also been taken at the same time as the ones that she had just previously hung up. His mother stepped back, looked at the arrangement of hte photographs, got a thoughtful look on her face then she went back to rummaging through the box that was a few feet away from her.

There was a dark brown, long, two-shelf, cabinet underneath the photographs that his mother had just put up, she had seen it in the catalogue that Mr. Leinart had given out to them and she had check marked it and he had gotten it for her, and them, shortly afterwards. She started placing more picture frames on this long, two-shelf, cabinet, these were of all of them, again at various ages. The first one was of all five of them, they had been on an island in the Caribbean, their mother had brought them to her last day of working on Water Works, a movie that she had made the special effects on by use of her Elemental Powers. They were all wearing jackets in this photo as it had been rather chilly on that day. Bile, who, in the photograph, was one thousand and eighty-two years old, and Lhaklar, who was nine hundred and eighty-two years old in the photograph, was on the island's shore. They were using their Elemental powers to splash water on one another in a game of chase. He and Hazaar were wrestling on the beach, his blue and black jacket was almost off of him and Hazaar had sand in his hair but they had been having fun. Guyunis was in the photograph as well, he was in mid-jump above them, about to join in with their beach wrestling. He was wearing a pair of light brown pants that were pretty torn up, a green t-shirt that was nearly in ribbons and a jean jacket that had a patchwork on the upper left arm and the jacket was missing a cuff and the collar was missing. Guyunis, in the picture, was seven hundred and eighty-two years old while Hazaar was five hundred and eighty-two years old and he was four hundred and eighty-two years old.

The photograph she put up next was of Bile and Guyunis standing in front of their old, Wyoming apartment over three hundred ago. The background in the photograph was of the kitchen in the apartment that had exploded near two and a half months ago, Bile was standing in front of the sink, the window that was over the sink showed that it was about to storm. Thick, black clouds hung all over, it was very dark outside but the photograph was not dark at all. The photograph gave off a happy feeling, a feeling of contentment and happiness. Bile was just one thousand, eight hundred and twenty years old, he was just starting to move from wearing non-torn or ripped shirts to shirts that had a rip here, a tear there and so forth, his arms were really starting to fill out with firm muscle. Lhaklar, Hazaar and he were not in the photograph, they had been going to the University of Telepathy at that time, they had not been at home at the time, it had just been her and Bile and Guyunis living in the apartment. Guyunis was standing next to Bile in the photograph, he stood just five foot, eight and a half inches tall then, just a few inches shorter than Bile, who had been six-foot, one and a half inches tall then. Guyunis had been a tall and thin kid then, he had had no muscle on him at all when he had been one thousand, five hundred and twenty years old. Guyunis had not been wearing a hoody back then, the memorically made photograph had him standing without anything obscuring his head or making his face become even more darker. His hair, in the photograph, was very black and it was very well-kept, it came down to his shoulders. He was smiling, his crooked, milky-yellow teeth were showing in a pitch black face that had a nose shaped in a snub-type fashion, thin to medium-sized lips and a right gently set brow and he had a square jaw. What made Lazeer laugh was the fact that Bile had the index and middle finger of his left hand held up behind Guyunis's head, effectively giving him a set of rabbit's ears. After his mother put that photograph on the cabinet shelf she reached back into the box for another.

"Time for some baby, toddler and kiddie photos of Guyunis to be put up." Angel said with a smile, she put a photograph of Guyunis, who had been no more than a few days old, on the cabinet shelf. He had had a headful of black hair then, his glowing, slightly slanted, yellow eyes were nothing but slits in the photograph. Curiously, his skin had not been pitch-black back then, in the memorically taken photograph his skin-color was a dark chocolate color.

"Man was he a-..."

"Chunky-monkey, yeah I was." Guyunis said as he walked up.

He had taken his hoody down, it lay flat against the back of his shoulders now. The glow from the lights all around lit his dark face up and brought out its features well. Guyunis still had that snub-like nose and them thin to medium-sized lips. His brow had gotten slightly rougher but not by much and his jaw was still square-shaped. Although the face was much the same as it had been when he had been one thousand, five hundred and twenty year old it did have a tougher, stronger, appearance. Guyunis had refused to take his hood off for the first month after they had become a full family, he had viewed that hoody as a way of masking his face which, at the time, he had thought was morbidly ugly. He still thought his face ugly to that day but he was taking the hood down and that was good, despite his being a male he did think that his new, adopted, brother was rather handsome. When he had taken his hood down for the first time they had all seen that, although he had grown his hair out some, it had been very terribly greasy as if it had not been cleaned in a long while. Even though his hair had been grown out it had been unhealthy, there had been split ends galore and some of the hair on his head had changed to a dark gray color. Lazeer was glad to see that his brother's hair was clean and evenly trimmed, it was all a nice, shiny black color and it went past his shoulders now.

"Don't you think it's a bit early to hang them up?" Guyunis asked, he pointed at the photographs that had him in them.

"Guy-B-Baby, do I need to go through the talk again?" Angel asked, she placed one of her hands on her hips. "You are to be with us forever. I won't be sending you away, you're my son now."

"Guy-B-Baby?" Lazeer repeated the name his mother had just said. "Look out G, ma's on one of them nick naming sprees."

"I, uh, no-k-itced." Guyunis replied, his cheeks had gotten a little heated with his blush. One would have to really get a good look at him to see him blushing, the skin of his cheeks would turn a deep red color that was nearly black whenever he blushed.

She had just gone back to putting more framed pictures up when there was a knock on the door, with it going on near eight o' clock she was sort of tired of answering the door. The refrigerator, a French-style, 36", stainless steel Energy Star, already had some cakes and jellos on the first shelf, she didn't want it full of just dessert food. Angel placed the framed photograph of Guyunis from when he had been a three hundred and seventy-three year old, he had just been brought into their tent, their mother was holding him close to her down on the cabinet shelf then she went to answer the door. Guyunis, on instinct, drew his hood up. He had his long, black hair just tucked underneath the hood when Angel pulled the door open. Standing on the other side of the door were three ladies, a mature woman who was wearing a nurses outfit and who had platinum-blonde hair and gray eyes in a diamond-shaped face, one of the girls that Guyunis and Lazeer had seen earlier that day and another girl, this one having platinum-blonde hair and brown eyes, the woman with the gray eyes had a plastic plate of brownies in her hands.

"Hi, we're the Klied's, we live just beside you." the mature, platinum-blonde haired, woman said.

"Hello, Mrs. Klied." Angel said.

"We just wanted to come over to welcome you and your boys to the neighborhood," Mrs. Klied said.

"Very nice of you, we've been getting a lot of that this fine evening." Angel said. "Behind me are two of my five, Guyunis and Lazeer."

"Hello," the platinum-blonde haired girl who had brown eyes said, she looked no more than fourteen years old.

"Hi," the brown-haired girl who had brown hair and gray eyes said.

"Hello there," Angel said.

There was a little chat made between the four, Angel called her other sons down, introduced them then she did her usual in asking if the three Klied ladies wished to come in. Mrs. Klied said that the offer was nice but she had to head off to get ready for work and she also said that her two daughters, named Petra and Sarah, had things that called their attention at home. Mrs. Klied gave the plate of brownies over, said that she'd see them all again then she and her two daughters left. Angel closed the door, turned around then went to the kitchen. She hoped that the Klied's would be the last but she had a feeling that they weren't. Guyunis took his hood down, he looked back at the photographs of him that his mum had put up, felt a chill roll down his spine then he went into the kitchen. He had seen his bruders do what he was about to several times and he had sort of adopted it. He walked up to his mum, placed his head up alongside hers then he gently nuzzled her. Bile had said that they; him, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer, did it to get comfort when they were not comfortable with something, nervous or scared. Bile had also told him that, when mom was not in the mood for the comfort nuzzling she'd show it by gently pushing the one who had come up to nuzzle his head up against hers. Seeing as he was a bit stressed out, he tried the move. He was halfway expecting for her to push him away but, instead, she reciprocated his nuzzle. He smiled, gave her a hug then he went back upstairs a few seconds later.


	6. Chapter 6

The first day of August, 4100 started out pretty simple and normal for them, they were all woken up when the alarm clock that Bile had asked Mr. Leinart to get him, a Steampunk ringing skull that's eyes lit up red when the alarm went off, the digital numbers were placed right underneath the chin of the skull and they were a bright red color, went off at 8:00 am. They had all stirred slowly, all still right sleepy after the previous nights events, then they had gotten dressed for the day. Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer had put their week's supply of clothing into the drawers of their dressers while Guyunis had put his five pairs of torn pants and socks into his dressers the night before right after Mr. and Mrs. Benz, Mrs. Wulff, Miss. Schmidt and her fiancée, Mr. Kaiser and Mrs. Maurer had shown up to give them a welcome to the neighborhood and a little something to feel even more welcome. Nothing else had been unpacked, Bile and his brothers had made up plans to do the rest of the unpacking of their things that day but their mother had had other plans for that early morning. They had dressed, had eaten a light meal of brownies and cake for breakfast then their mother had said for them all to pile into her new car, they had done so eagerly, looking forward to getting the feel of the vehicle that Mr. Leinart had bought for their mother. That eagerness had sort of ebbed after their mother had said that they were all going with her to the store.

"It's time to fill up them cabinets and that fridge, boys." their mother had said after she had gotten into the Porsche D2. "We'll probably do more than one trip."

"Shouldn't one or two of us stay home then?" Hazaar had asked, the car had been built really for only five persons and, with their being six in the car he was sort of squished up between Bile and Lhaklar.

"All required to come along," their mother had replied. "try not to fight back there, I know it's cramped. Won't be for long, promise."

It took fifteen minutes to reach the store, with Lhaklar's elbow firmly up against his ribs and Bile's left leg held firmly against his leg Hazaar had felt somewhat caged in. Lazeer had been seated up front, between Guyunis and their mother, even he had looked a bit caged in. After they had reached the store they had all piled out of the car, had stretched their stiff and sore muscles then they had obediently followed their mother as she had gone into the store. Guyunis, who had never gone on a shopping trip, was sort of taked aback by the sight of the store. Bile had found himself giving his adopted brother a gentle push from the back to get him moving forward and then, when they had gone into the store, he had found himself giving Guyunis another push to go forward. Their mother had given them a few orders, Bile was to grab a cart and do some shopping, he was to take Hazaar with him. Lhaklar, after he had been told to grab a cart, found himself stuck with Lazeer while Guyunis had found himself with their mom. Guyunis had gone to grab the cart but, upon coming back with it, he had found it being gently taken from him, he had expected to be the one who pushed the cart around the store but it was the other way around. He followed either at his new mother's side or slightly behind her.

Bile and Hazaar were spotted going through the vegetable section while Lhaklar and Lazeer were spotted in the canned goods section. Angel and Guyunis went through the meat section first. Angel placed things of chicken legs, breasts and thighs in the cart in a neat and organized fashion before going onto the hamburger. After she had placed two, big things of hamburger in the cart she went pushed the cart over to the ribs. She grabbed things of ribs next; pork ribs, beef ribs, ribs that were boneless and ribs that had bones in them. In the cart they had gone then she had moved on, Guyunis had followed in a daze for a short while then he had understood all the fuss and why they had come to the store so early in the morning. Their mother had wanted to fill the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator and she had also wanted to beat the crowds, she had wanted to get pretty stocked up on pretty much everything. After going through the meat section they had gone through the cereal and boxed foods section. His new mum had said that if he saw anything he wanted that he was to toss it into the cart and he, honestly, had nearly cried. He had not heard that being said to him in a very long time, none of the women that had acted as his adopted mother's before Angel Irene had finally adopted him had taken him to the store or had told him that he could get whatever he wanted from the shelves. As she put several boxes of Mac n Cheese, Rice, Sour Cream and Chives potatoes, Au Gratin potatoes and Instant Mash Potatoes into the cart he had looked at the cereal that was on the other side. Anything he wanted? Well, he had snuck a few handfuls of cereal from time to time in Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr.'s kitchen so he knew what kind of cereal he was going to get.

Two boxes of Pops had found their way into the cart then he had slid a single box of Corn Flakes, Cap N' Crunch, Kix and then two boxes of Mini Wheats before he decided to stop. Angel, when she had seen the boxes of cereal in the cart, had smiled. She had surprised him by putting another box each of the Corn Flakes, Cap N' Crunch, Kix and Mini Wheats cereals into the cart along with two boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch before moving on. After that, Guyunis started having a bit of fun with the shopping spree. He plopped frozen banquet dinners into the cart madly, at first, then he decided to slow it up and let his mother do the rest of the shopping. She put some things of fish, some more banquet dinners, a few things of frozen vegetables and then some ice cream into the cart before turning and looking at him. He took the hint with that one look, he picked out two other things of ice cream and some ice pops before stepping back. The last things that Angel put into the cart were the three rolls of sausage, the link sausage, the Bratwurst and Ham and the gallon of milk - of which she put back after seeing that Lhaklar and Hazaar had one in their cart already. She and Guyunis went through the register first, the food that was in their cart cost a total of $279.76. The food in Lhaklar's and Hazaar's cart rang up at $167.90 and the food that was in the cart controlled by Bile and Lazeer rang up $67.45. The combined trip cost their mother a grand total of $515.11, with the food purchased and put into bags she and her family then left the store. Angel instructed her boys to place the bagged food on the ground which they did, she flipped the ground then said that when they got home she'd re-flip the ground to make the food reappear.

"Ma is smart, she knew even before we left that store that we'd not all fit in this car with all them groceries being in here." Bile said.

"Might have if one or two of my boys had climbed up on the roof of the car." Angel said.

"Car surfing-k, nex-k-t time we go group shopping I call dibs on the roof of the car." Guyunis said, the energy that was coming off of him was very high, he was very energetic.

"I bet it won't be surfing he does while being on the roof of the car, ma." Bile said. "Probably yelling at the top of his lungs at the passing vehicles just to make some heads turn."

"Dude! I'm going-k to be like the friggin' Moonville Ghost up there. The humans will be doing double checks as mum drives by." Guyunis said happily, he began to making the screaming sounds that the white dressed female ghost that reportedly roamed the Moonville Tunnel that was located in southwestern Brown Township, Vinton County, Ohio. Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer all burst out laughing at once.

"Momma, can you roll the windows down please?" Hazaar asked. "Although I like he car I don't much like that new car smell that is in here."

Although she was completely compliant of doing this, even that new car smell had gotten to her and she didn't want any of her children to get a headache from it, Angel found herself having to do so for another reason. It was either Guyunis or Lazeer who let it off but, once it was done all of her sons went sort of crazy. Guyunis pulled back from Lazeer, Lazeer claimed that he was not the one who did it and Bile said he wanted more than the windows to be let down, he asked his mother if she'd pull over to put the two thought-to-be farters up on the roof of the car just so they'd not do another fart in the already cramped car. As soon as the car's windows had been rolled out there was another ripper of a fart released and the culprit was quickly discovered, Angel told Guyunis to quit it then she drove on in silence. Lhaklar rubbed his temple with his hand, Bile looked out the window while Hazaar wished that he was next to the window, he would have stuck his head out of it if he had been the one seated next to the window. Guyunis pleaded his innocence twice then he apologized before going quiet, he did not let off anymore farts. Although it only took them fifteen minutes to get back to the home that Mr. Leinart had bought for them, it felt more like an hour to all of them. The entire trip had taken all of an hour and twenty minutes. After Angel had pulled up into the drive way then had parked the car in the carport her sons all piled out of the car, she left the windows down to let the new car smell dissipate a little. She flipped the ground just beside the white sidewalk that ran from the drive way after exiting her car, all the groceries that she had paid for were now sitting right in front of her.

"There's a lot of bags here, boys. Help me get them into the house." Angel said.

Mitzi Klied, who had just rolled her red, Rolls Royce pick-up into her drive way, stopped at once when she saw the activity that was going on outside the Kaufer's old place. She saw Lhaklar head in with four bags then Bile with five and then Hazaar with three before the thought of her new neighbors going out shopping came to her. Lazeer went into the house with four bags and Guyunis followed with six before she saw the Food Lion slogan on the sides of the bags, she had been wondering what all they had bought after the thought of their going out to shop had come to her after she had seen Bile, Lhaklar and Hazaar head in with the bags. She shook her head then she got out of her car, she was glad to see that the five boys that were her neighbors sons were not slackers and she was glad that her neighbor had gone out to stock up the house of food. When she and her husband and Petra had moved into their house they had had to live out of a cooler for two weeks, no one had lifted a finger to help them get their stove or their washer/dry combo or even their refrigerator from their old residence until they had asked a church for assistance. Living in a cooler had been expensive, it had been frustrating, but they had had food and that had been a good thing. She and her husband had sort of severed ties with their families, their brothers and sisters and their aunts and uncles, afterwards. No one in their family had helped even though they had asked, even pleaded, for it. It was always excuses with them, never a finger lifted, never a suggestion given, they had abandoned them and that had been both angering and hurtful. Mitzi went into her house just as Bile came out for the last four bags of food, she gave a little wave in his direction which he returned.

"Thank you, boys. Now, either you could help me get all this put up in the cabinets and in the fridge or you can head up and fix up your rooms. Your choice." Angel said after all the food that she had bought from the store had been brought in.

"Think I'll stay and help you out some." Lhaklar said, he began to take things from the bags.

"Me too." Guyunis said.

Bile, Hazaar and Lazeer said they wanted to get a head start on their rooms, Angel wished them luck then they left. Guyunis and Lhaklar emptied each plastic and paper bag of the food that was in them then they either folded the paper bags and put them in one of the lower cabinets, Lhaklar told Guyunis all the while that the paper bags were good trash bags, the plastic trash bags were good and they were used but the paper bags were an insurance thing against rips or tears that the cans could do on the plastic trash bags. Guyunis crumpled all but one plastic bag, he used an uncrumpled plastic bag to act as a holder for the other plastic bags, he put them in the same cabinet, saying that they were also good when it came time to getting rid of spoiled food or leftover food that had been kept in the fridge for too long that was not safe to eat. Angel smiled at her two boys, both had said very smart things about the paper and plastic bags. She started filling the cabinets up while Lhaklar took care of organizing the food that went into the refrigerator.

Angel shoved the canned potatoes as far back as she could into the cabinet farthest from the fridge then she put a row of green beans, both the French-cut and the normal, in front of them. A row each of Peas, baked beans and then tomato sauce followed, she finished that cabinet off by putting a row of the canned soup in front of the tomato sauce then she went onto the next. She made a short row with the other canned soups that couldn't fit into the other cabinet then she put a row of canned fruit next to that before going onto putting a row of the boxed foods in next. When she was done filling that cabinet up she went on to the next one which she decided would only have the snacks in it. She placed the bags of BBQ Chips, regular Lays Chips, Crinkled Chips and then the Sour Cream and Chives Chips in a neat line then she slid in the bags of Doritos, Cheetos and the bag of Pringles in next before heading off to the next cabinet which would have only cereal in it. By the time she was done with the cabinets the fridge had been filled to capacity, nothing else would fit in there, Lhaklar had had to take some of the cakes out just to fit in all that she had bought. Angel placed the cakes on the counter then she stepped back.

"You two have done a marvelous job," Angel said to Lhaklar and Guyunis. "thank you. You two best head on up now, do something with your rooms. I'll be heading out in an hour, if you boys wish to head out on the town you can. Just leave a note telling me where you are."

"Don't you think it's a little early for going out on the town, mom?" Lhaklar asked.

"No, you five need to get to know this area and the only way to do that is to get out in it. Either you do it on your own or I'll give you the boot out of here." Angel said, she then looked at Guyunis. "That includes you, you're heading out on the town as well. Have a little fun, make some friends. Get into some mischief."

"Okay, mum." Guyunis said.

"You should really loosen the chain that's around your neck, G. Seems to me that you've always got it wrapped around your neck tightly, I worry that you'll choke on it." Angel said, she had walked over to Guyunis, she gently loosened the chain that he had wrapped around his neck that morning after waking then she walked over to the counter bar.

In the catalogue that Stefan had given her she had circled the picture that had shown a Marie Louise dining table that had been a rustic brown color that she had seen in the table section that was in the book. She had been looking for a table that would sit six and that one, particular, table had looked to be able to do just that. The Topaz Pedestal dining room chairs that were placed around the table she had seen in the chair section of the catalogue, the description of the chairs had said that they had been manufactured from solid cherry and veneers, it had looked strong and the picture had shown that they had cream-colored cushions on the seats. She had circled them, had added the number six inside the circle and Mr. Leinart had ordered them. The table and chairs were placed in the center of the dining room. The only other kitchen-type thing that she had seen and had circled in the catalogue had been the Nash Curio China Cabinet, the catalogue's photograph had shown it looking pretty basic, it had had a nice, oak finish and the photograph had showed that it had two, glass, doors. The cabinet had been delivered and set up, it was directly across from the dining room table and chairs. She had stopped asking for things that went in a kitchen or dining room afterwards, the guilt of having Stefan spend his hard-earned cash on her and her family, a family he did not know, had gripped her. He was being nice enough to help her and her sons, she had not wanted to go too far in her house furniture requests.

Lhaklar and Guyunis went upstairs, Angel sat down at the kitchen table. She took out a pencil and a piece of paper and started writing things that were further needed in the kitchen. A microwave, there was not one in the room that she was in and there was a need for one so she put that on the piece of paper. A coffee maker, very needed, she drank coffee and she also knew that her biological sons did as well. They had not had a blender when they had been living in Green River, Wyoming so she added that to the list, that piece of machinery would come in handy when it came to making smoothies or milk shakes or any other beverages. Pots and pans, those were a must. Plates, bowls and tupperware containers, those were another must for the house. Silverware, cookingware, a broom and a mop was needed for the messes that would happen in the kitchen and dining room, a vacuum was also needed, she added a note about a carpet cleaner then she added a question mark beside it before adding towels, dish rags, light bulbs, batteries for the battery operated things that she was sure they'd have at one time or another and there was also her bedding and pillows and their cases that she had to get. She'd let her boys do their own shopping for their bedding, pillows and pillow cases and the other stuff that they wanted in their rooms, she didn't want to mom-bomb on their style by getting something that was ridiculous or something that wasn't their style. The last thing that she added to the list of things to get was a can opener, although they could get by by just using a P-38, a portable can opener that one usually had on their key ring, she figured that a can opener was also a good thing to have. She figured that this next trip was going to cost her a thousand dollars so she went down to the basement, which was still pretty bare except for the Wildaire washer and dryer. She made a small square of the concrete floor flip over then she bent down, she had put all the money that Stefan Leinart had given her, all $5,000 of it, on the concrete floor then she had flipped the ground so all that cash would be safe. Angel took $2,300 out from the envelope then she placed the envelope back on the concrete floor. She flipped the portion of the concrete floor over that had the envelope that now contained $2,700 in it that was on the floor then she went upstairs.

His jean bag had nearly become empty after he had put his five pairs of pants, all that had some degree of rips or tears in their legs and all that went down to just below his knee before stopping, and his holey socks into two top drawers of his Reclaimed Barnwood dresser, he had put his magazines on one of the Shiro shelf's shelves right before going to bed the night before. All he had in the bag was the portable CD player, an old thing that the humans had used to listen to music on the go from the late 1990's to the early 2,000's, he had found the thing in the trash after Justin Meyer, one of Lenora and Mathis Meyer's sons, had tossed after it had stopped working, and his small AM/PM radio, another thing that one of Lenora Meyer's kids had thrown out that had stopped working that he had fished out of the trash can, fixed up then had kept. Those he swiftly put on the middle gray stone mantle shelf that one of the humans that had come by the day before had nailed up on his wall. After he had put those two things on the mantle shelf he placed his now empty jean bag into one of the drawers of his dresser. He turned his attention onto the rolled up white sheet and the rug that he had used as pillows the night before. The white sheet he had found on some woman's wash line, he had needed it so he had taken it. The rug, well he had gotten that from the dump, his bruders had gone "treasure hunting" at one of the dumps in Colorado and he had gone along. The rug was of those Berber's, it was modern and brown in color. When he had found it he had taken it back to the cave, had given it a good cleaning then he had started keeping the other things that he had found on other trips to Colorado's dumps wrapped up in it. The white sheet had his hunting trophies in it, things that he had wanted to keep from his hunting trips.

He put a nail into the wall that was beside the door to his room then he hung the skull of the Wild Boar that he had taken down before his new mum had come to claim him on it. He put a nail on the opposite side of the door from the Wild Boar skull next, he hung the Moose rack on that then he moved onto the wall that was beside the one that had the Moose rack hanging on it. He put a nail into that wall then he hung the Mule Deer rack on that before backing up. He nodded his head then went back towards his bed. He decided that he was going to have the Mountain Lion's pelt lying across his bed, the Lynx pelt he wanted tacked to the wall that the side of his bed had been shoved up against. He tacked the pelt onto the wall then he looked down. He grabbed and then tacked the short-haired cow Elk hide next to that, he had downed that animal after watching his new mum hunt in the proper fashion. He had not ambushed the Elk by lying in the grass then springing up when the animal had walked over the top of him, he had thrown a ground spear, a spear that he had made shoot out of the ground after stomping him foot down, at the beast and it had impaled the animal right above the heart. He had collected the antlers, which he nailed up beside the animal's pelt, and the pelt along with the meat and vital organs. The five Fox tails that grabbed up next he had collected from when he had successfully hunted some foxes. The first tail he hung up on his wall was gray in color, it had a rusty undertone to it and the tip of the tail was black, this tail had belonged to a Kit fox. The next tail that he hung up was a grayish tan color and, like the Kit fox tail it's tip was black but this tail had come not from a Kit fox but a Swift fox. The next two fox tails that he hung up on the wall were red, one had a black undertone to it while the other was fully red and both had white tips, these had come from Red foxes. The last tail that he hung up on the wall was pure white, he had found and then hunted a pure white Red fox just before they had moved from Colorado to Africa.

The trophies that were left were small, they'd fit on his mantle shelves or on one of the Shiro's shelves. There was the Desert cottontail's skull, after a few hours of simply walking around the Colorado cave that he and his family had stayed in he had gotten bored, he had decided to go out a bit farther than his usual, had seen the Cottontail then he had charged out at it. The rabbit had been a small meal but he had been happy with how he had taken the creature down and he had saved the skull as he had liked it. The Beaver skull he had gotten after stalking and then taking down a North American Beaver in one of the lakes that was near the same cave in Colorado. Guyunis put both skulls next to each other one of the Shiro's shelves then he went back to his bed. He had found the Pronghorn Antelope hoof one day while out on a walk in Colorado and he had found the Zebra hoof while out on a similar walk when he and his family had been in Africa, he put those on the same shelf as the Cottontail and Beaver skulls then he turned back, he went back to his bed for the last item that he had in his possession. It was the lower jaw of a Lion, he had found it one day near the cave that he and his family had stayed in while they had been in Africa. The teeth in the jaw were all still there, they were perfect and he had liked it quite a lot which was why he had taken it and had it in his possession. He put that on the same shelf as the Cottontail skull, Beaver skull, Pronghorn Antelope hoof and the Zebra horn then he went back to fold the sheet. He placed the Berber rug down just in front of his bedroom door afterwards then he turned around and looked at his bedside table.

"Maybe I should move that radio of mine to the bedside table," Guyunis thought after he had seen the Mango Wood Bedside Cabinet. The human that had brought that piece of furniture into his room had placed it right beside his bed, that same human had placed the Nuke-shaped lamp in the center of that table. The Nuke-shaped lamp looked even cooler in person, he was glad that he had asked for it, when it was turned on the outside of the lamp turned all different shades of red, orange, yellow and brown. Guyunis went over to the mantle shelf that his AM/PM radio had been put on, he took his radio down then he walked it over to the bedside table. He pushed his new lamp back and then to the side a little then he placed his radio beside it, he nodded his head afterwards. The radio made the bedside table look less empty.

He sat down on his bed then he took in his room fully, he grew a bit sad afterwards. The long, dark brown, bookshelf that had five shelves had just one thing on it's top and that was the Forkalier Lamp, it had nothing else on it. The Rusty Brown Icelandic Sheepskin had been placed down in front of the bookshelf while the Wild Mannered Luxury Long Faux Fur rug that was 3'4 x 4'10 long had been placed right beside his bed, one of the outer edges touched the Mango Wood Bedside Cabinet. The Shiro shelf had been placed beside the window while the long bookshelf had been placed beside the door to his room's closet, his dresser had been placed right across from the foot of his bed. Although his room was starting to get that lived-in feel he felt that there were some things missing and he still felt like having this room all to himself was not real. He had never had things of his own like this, he had never had the pleasure of having a dresser or shelves or book shelves or ever a new bed. He did have to agree, though, that having a room all to himself was far better than being imprisoned in an attic or basement. Guyunis reached his hand up, he fingered the links of the chain that was around his neck for a bit then he dropped his hand. He wasn't stupid by any means, he knew that his still wearing the chains that had bound him to the beams of Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr.'s attic was something that he'd probably not get rid of for a long time. He was wearing the chains as a remembrance of his former captivity and, although he had tried to remove them after putting them on several times in the past six months he had not once come close to doing so. He had a feeling that his new mum understood this, she had not told him to get rid of them, she had asked him to loosen them so he could breathe or not choke a few times and that was all. His new bruders had also not told him to remove the chains, they had simply said that they were cool and that was it. Guyunis stood up, turned then lifted his mattress up some, he pulled a brown envelope that had some paperwork out from underneath the mattress then he replaced the mattress back on its frame. He sat down, opened the envelope then started looking at the paperwork that slid out into his hand with intense scrutiny.

He had become terrified a few days after his new mum had come to claim him, she had aroused him from a deep sleep to ask him for the original copy of the adoption papers that she had signed on January 27th. He had asked why and she had said that she needed to go find Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr., she had said that they needed to sign the papers so that they were no longer responsible of him or had any parental rights of him. He had handed the papers over then he had watched her teleport, she had had a smoke effect to her post-teleportation which he had thought was cool. His new mum had stayed away for all of two hours, when she had come back she had been right unsettled, he had thought that the Meyers' had refused to sign him over to her and he had gotten depressed over that thought. She had quickly comforted him, had given him a hug then she had shown him both Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr.'s signatures, they had signed their rights of parenting him over. The reason why she had been so unsettled had not been told to him until later on, after he had asked her what the matter was she had said that they had not wanted to sign the papers because they had wanted to keep him as their slave-child. They had wanted to have someone do the dishes, do the carpets with the carpet cleaner and vacuum, they had wanted someone to clean their five cats' litter boxes and pick up their two dogs' shit from the yard, do the lawn in the front and back - at night, he was never allowed to do the yard work during the day, and they had also wanted someone to fix the problems in the house for free. They had not wanted him to be in with their family, they had just wanted to retain parental rights to have him remain being their non-paid house keeper. His new mum had said that she had threatened to turn them into both the adoption agency that handled his adoptions and child protective services if they didn't sign the papers and that had rattled some nerves on both of them. They had signed the forms, had said for her to get out and never come back and she had done just that. He was hers now, he was the son of Angel Irene now, the Meyer family couldn't claim him as theirs anymore and he didn't have to worry about them anymore. He had calmed down after that but the same question had reared its ugly face each time he had looked at these forms, it was the same question that danced in front of his eyes now.

He didn't need to be told where babies came from, he knew well how they were created and where they came from, the thing that he didn't know was sort of personal for him. His birth mother, Lisa Ann Wahlberg, had gone to several abortion clinics in the eight months that she had had him in her stomach, she had fully intended to get rid of him before he could even be born but, before the doctor could come in to call her into the room for the procedure to be done she had left the clinic. He had been told that she had given birth to him at eight and a half months gestation, why had she decided against having an abortion at the last minute all them times she had gone out to expel him from her womb? He had been told nothing on his father, all he had was the name on one of the forms that he now had in his hand. ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, who was he? Did ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit look like him, had he inherited his midnight black skin from his father? His mother, he had been told, had a medium complexion, black hair and very green eyes, it seemed that the only thing that he had inherited from her was his black hair. Why had his birth mother wanted to get rid of him, why had she not had the want to have him in her life? What had he done to not be accepted by her? Had his father done something to make her hate him or had she been one of them whores that just had sex without worry of the consequences? Did his father know of his existence?

His new mum had said nothing of his father to him, she knew him, he knew she did otherwise she wouldn't have put his name on the forms. Would she tell him one day about his father or would she act like his birth parents had vanished into thin air? Guyunis looked at the certificate that congratulated the new parents of the adopted child, it had fake gold embroidery around it, a fake red ribbon underneath the signatures and then it had his new mum's name and then his underneath it. Guyunis ran his hand over the certificate, it was the original one, his new mum had a copy of all the adoption forms and of this very certificate, she had told him that she was giving him the original forms and certificate for a reason. She had said that he was in charge of his life and that, if at any time he wished to not have her as his guardian he was to tear or burn the forms and the certificate. Although he had appreciated her saying that he had already planned to remain with her as long as she wished to have him around. He was happy with having her as his mum. He was happy with having Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer being his bruders, he couldn't see himself any more happier in life than he was now.

"Guy?" Guyunis looked up, he blinked his slightly slanted, glowing yellow eyes once as his new mother walked into the room that he had shyly claimed as his.

"Hi, mum." Guyunis said, he placed the forms and the adoption certificate down on the bed then stood up. "I should get tha-k-t certifi-k-cate framed then put up."

"That's a very good idea, sweetie. If you wish to do it you're allowed to." Angel said. "Those are your forms, you can do with them as you please."

"Very special documents to me, mum." Guyunis said. "They say that I've finally-..."

"Been adopted by the right people who will take care of you and show you the love and care and support that you deserve." Angel said, she smiled a gentle smile which Guyunis returned. "I'm heading out for a bit, you wish to stay here or go out on the town with your brothers?"

"Hate to base my decision on what my bruders are planning but, are they heading out?" Guyunis asked, he didn't much want to be left at home alone. He had been left alone at the homes of his former adoption families way too many times.

"All of them are heading out, Hazaar and Lazeer have already left." Angel replied. "Bile and Lhaklar are waiting on your decision before they go."

"You're go-k-ing out too, right?" Guyunis asked.

"Yes," Angel nodded her head. "for a little bit. Do some house shopping, you boys will do some shopping for yourselves."

"I'll go with Bile and Lhaklar, mum." Guyunis smiled. "Y-you wan-k-t us back-k at a specific-k time or-..."

"Curfew is seven o' clock solid, no exceptions." Angel replied, she then walked forward. She grabbed Guyunis's hand then slid some money into it. "Two hundred and sixty dollars, G. You use this for you, okay. Buy some stuff for your room, have some fun."

"Thanks, mum." Guyunis said excitedly, he walked over then gave his mother a deep hug.

"You're very welcome." Angel replied as she returned the hug. "You three have fun now, don't get into too much trouble and no girlfriend shopping or motel or hotel room shopping. None of you are allowed to have any kids until you've reached over the age of twenty thousand."

"Ah man, no girlies?" Guyunis faked disappointment then he chuckled. "I promise, mum."

Bile, Lhaklar and Guyunis left a little after their mother did, they all piled up in front of one of the living room's windows to watch as she drove off, a ping of sadness had gripped them. They were all close to her so, seeing her go off without them, whether to work or to the store or to do something important that they needn't be a part of, hurt and saddened them. They all thought the same things; when would she be coming back, would she return looking the same and would she return home safe? After a full minute of simply staring out the window Bile, Lhaklar and Guyunis took a step back. Lhaklar reached into his back pants pocket, he was wearing a cream and brown striped, long sleeve, button down shirt, brown pants and brown shoes, when he brought his hand around both Bile and Guyunis saw that he had taken his wallet out from the pocket that he had just reached back for. The wallet was made of a brown leather material and it had dark red stitching on it's outer edges, it was pretty bulged out in cash. Lhaklar opened it, reached in then took out three $100 bills. He handed one of the $100 bills to Bile then another to Guyunis before replacing his wallet back in his back pants pocket.

"You sure, man?" Bile asked. "This is you're money, you know. You worked your ass off, literally, for it."

"Pretty sure, gives us a little more cash to spend." Lhaklar replied.

"Where'd you c-k-ome by this money anyways, bro?" Guyunis asked, he had actually had the wallet for a few days. In one of his attempts six months before to get his mother's and brother's attention he had actually done a spell to make Lhaklar's wallet, some CDs and magazines and Lazeer's pocket knife disappear from their bedroom chambers on Moas and appear with him on Earth. All $2,222 had been in the wallet, he had been pretty shocked at that, the wallet-sized photograph of a naked Marilyn Monroe, from the first edition of the Playboy magazine, had also been a shock when he had seen that.

"Ten months ago mom and I were working to get Lazeer his goggled glass," Lhaklar started to explain. "she worked at Food Lion, in the Deli department. Her pay was moderate. I worked at a strip club."

"Y-you stripped?" Guyunis asked in shock. "Or was you one of the c-k-lub's waiters?"

"I stripped. It's a fun job, liked it a lot and it paid real good. Came home with over three hundred on me sometimes."

"I'll never see you the same way again." Guyunis said.

"It's a family secret, ma didn't know about it." Bile said. "Only I, Hazaar and Lazeer know about it."

"Suppose you wan-k-t me to keep what you just t-k-old me under the hat as well?"

"Course," Bile said, he then got an evil look on his face. "or else, we dunk your head in the toilet. A wedgie and a swirlie at the same time."

"Whatever you say to me that you wan-k-t to be k-kept from mum I'll keep to myself." Guyunis said, he then crossed his hand over his chest to emphasize what he had just said.

They teleported; Bile had a black implosion effect to his post-teleportation, he had thought it was a wicked cool after-teleportation effect after reading about it and after seeing it done while being a student in Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, while Lhaklar had a cloud-effect to his post-teleportation. The effect of Guyunis's post-teleportation was a great, white explosion of smoke, the smoke dissipated fast after he had teleported out of the house. They all appeared in the town nearby and began walking down the sidewalk in single file, one after the other. The first place that they stopped was at a store that sold magazines, they got all of their August editions from the store before moving on down the sidewalk to a shop that sold cigarettes. Bile skipped on the purchase of any cigarettes, he was more a weed smoker than a cigarette smoker, but Lhaklar and Guyunis got their brands. The cashier gave them four packs each, they paid for them then they left the store. Seeing as their monthly interests; the magazines and the smokes, had been dealt with they all decided to head off to a tall structure that looked like a mall. Bile separated from them just after seeing the tall building that they were walking towards, he said he had something in mind to check out and do and that he'd catch up later so, Lhaklar and Guyunis wished him luck in whatever he was checking out then they went on. When Lhaklar and Guyunis reached the mall of Elcheshein-Illingen it was just the two of them walking in. After Lhaklar asked Guyunis if he'd be okay on his own and after Guyunis, who felt a bit more confident than he had the previous few days, the two of them separated, Lhaklar went off to the left side of the building while Guyunis went off to the left. They got to shopping for the things that they wanted in their rooms quickly.

The first place that Guyunis went to was called Spencer's Gifts, a store that sold neat, wicked and insane merchandise. He had seen something in the window of the store that he had liked and that had made him go into the store to check it out. He bought a poster of an evil-looking black cat that had glowing or flaming yellow eyes that was walking out of yellow, red and orange flames, a poster of a volcano that was collapsing and spewing red lava and ash at the same time and a poster of a flaming motorcycle first then he decided to do some more browsing. He bought a completed motorcycle model of a Harley Davidson FLHTCUI then he bought a model kit of a Lowrider next before leaving the store. He went to another store that sold only model kits afterwards, he spent $50 on three models kits; a Honda CB400 motorcycle, a Yamaha XV1600 Roadster and a Honda Goldwing GL1000 before leaving that store. He bought four other things that were of one of his interests and those were Motorcycle magazines before he set himself down to looking for some sheets, blankets, pillows and pillow cases for his bed.

After going into a store that claimed it sold bedding he found a thing that had a white fitted sheet and a normal sheet in it quite quickly then he set down to looking for some blankets, the blanket set that was all gray and that had light gray octopus tentacle designs on it caught his eye pretty quickly so he grabbed that, the set came with four pillow cases that was also gray and had octopus tentacle designs on them so he didn't have to look for a thing of pillow cases next. He bought them then he went across the aisle to a store that had lots of pillows in it. He bought three, rectangular pillows quickly then he left the store. After seeing that he had just purchased the major things that his room needed and, seeing that he was already loaded with shopping bags, he spell-sent his purchases home, he resumed his store browsing and shopping afterwards.

"G?" Hazaar said, he had walked into the store named Der Verruckt Shop that sold all sorts of crazy and insane novelty things. Seeing Guyunis in the store had been a surprise, seeing him alone, though, was alarming. Hazaar had several bags in his hands, he had found a bedding set that was dark blue and had white and yellow lightning bolts cross crossing all over it that had four pillow cases and a normal and a fitted sheet included in it and he had also done his monthly magazine purchasing before deciding to separate from Lazeer to do some personal interest shopping. Guyunis turned to look at him after he had heard his nickname being called. He looked at his younger, adopted brother in a confused state for only a second before walking towards him. "You alone or-..."

"Yeah, Lhak-k-lar went off on his own and Bile wen-k-t off to find some smoke... I think." Guyunis replied.

"Mom will probably flip her lid when she finds out that they left you alone." Hazaar said, he felt a trifle angry at Guyunis's being left to walk about the mall alone. "You okay? Nothing's spooked you or anything?"

"No, act-k-ually haven't had any freak-k out moments." Guyunis replied. "Been here for an hour now, think-k I'm about to finish up here."

"Looks like you've done a lot of shopping for yourself, G." Hazaar said. "Get everything you liked or have you had to skip out on a few things?"

"Near done out in k-cash," Guyunis said. "yeah, bought everything-k that I liked. You?"

"Almost, only thing I haven't been able to buy are some smokes." Hazaar said. "You have to be at least eighteen to buy cigarettes, the humans don't really take in my real age when it comes to cigarettes. They sell them to Bile and Lhaklar but they refuse for me and Lazeer. Ten months ago, I had a human that did that for me, I slid him some money and he went into a store to buy some cigarettes and some magazines while I stood out front."

"I bought some Gold Flake and HB earlier, they had no problem with selling-k to me." Guyunis said.

"Course not, you have a mature-looking body while I and Lazeer don't. Bile and Lhaklar have fake I.D.'s that say they are twenty-two and twenty-one years old, they also have licenses but those have their real ages on them." Hazaar said.

"Wouldn't the fake I.D.'s be found out after the fuzz checked them and the licenses at the same time?" Guyunis asked.

"So far, no one's noticed." Hazaar replied. "Mom don't know about the fake I.D.'s, it's sort of-..."

"A sec-k-ret held between you four." Guyunis finished.

"Five, not four but five." Hazaar corrected.

"Let me finish up in here then I'll see what I k-can do on buying you some sticks." Guyunis said, he gave Hazaar a smile then went back to looking at what he had been looking at before.

Guyunis bought a Nightmare Before Christmas Wacky Wobbler from the store then he led Hazaar out of the mall, they went straight back to the store where Guyunis and Lhaklar had bought their cigarettes in soon after teleporting to the town that their house was near. He spell-sent his few bags home then he went in, after waiting a few seconds in line he asked the cashier for three packs of Newport's, Marlboro's and Kamel Light Red's. The cashier gave him the nine packs without asking him for an I.D., Guyunis spent the last of his cash on the smokes then he left the store. He led Hazaar a little distance from the store before stopping then giving over the smokes. Hazaar thanked him then he paid him back for what he had spent, Guyunis said no problem, pocketed the money then he teleported back home. There was a lightning effect soon after he had appeared in front of the house that Mr. Leinart had bought from their family, he looked back just once to see that it was only Hazaar, his teleportation had a lightning effect to it. Hazaar and Guyunis went into the house together, they both stopped at the same time after taking one step into the house.

"Whoa, think mum's really on a ball with the shopping-k today." Guyunis said, there were quite a lot of bags in the living room.

"Heed my advice, bro. Look but don't touch, momma's got laser's for eyes. She'll burn your hand off if you are caught touching them bags." Hazaar jokingly warned his brother.

"Guyunis? Hazaar? That you two in the living room?" the voice of their mother reached them from the kitchen.

"Yes!" Hazaar and Guyunis said together, their mother walked into view a few seconds later.

"I see that you, Hazie, have done some shopping." Angel said. "G, did you do some shopping for yourself? I don't see any bags with you."

"I did one of them sender spells on my bag-k-s, mum." Guyunis said. "They're all up in my room."

"Have fun boys on your outing?" Angel asked.

"Yes," Hazaar and Guyunis replied together, again.

"Head on upstairs, start unpacking them bags and fixing up your rooms." Angel said. "I'll be quite busy for a while, as you see I have been pretty busy myself on the shopping thing. I fear I overdid it a little."

"You did good, momma." Hazaar said as he walked by, Guyunis had gone by, he was now on the second floor of the house.

"I had to come back for another hundred dollars just to finish my shopping up, it was all needed but boy was it all expensive." Angel said.


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe it! They couldn't even wait a little while before putting it out on the news and in the papers about our moving here." Lhaklar said angrily, he tossed the newspaper that he had just read onto the table. In the living room, he heard his mother saying something similar. She had gone to call Mr. Leinart after he had shown her the article that he had just read for the second time.

"It was eventually going to get out about our being here." Bile said.

"Eventually means sometime after we've moved here, it's only been three days and we're all over the news and-..."

"We haven't been all over the news, Lhaklar. One news station ran a small report that we were sighted in the area of Grun Bach." Bile said.

"It was far over just one news station, Bile. I got up earlier than you, I was flicking the channels like mad, I saw over-..."

"Five total, you kept ranting and raving over it to mom after she got up." Hazaar said. "You practically jumped at her about the news about us being on tv before she could even get dressed."

"Six," Lhaklar corrected.

They all went silent after they heard their mother talking on the phone with Mr. Leinart, it had not been the best of mornings for any of them. Lhaklar had decided to get up at six, he had gotten dressed then he had turned the 30" big screen tv that Mr. Leinart had generously purchased for him on in his room. He had just been turning the tv off when the news had come on, the report on their being sighted in the subdivision of Grun Bach had caught his attention quickly so he had decided to do some news station surfing to see if it was being passed around that they had been seen in their current residence. Channel 8 had just been airing the report on their being sighted in Grun Bach, channel 5 had shown a photograph of them and their mother standing outside the house with Mr. Leinart while channel 12 had shown some video of all the semi-trucks coming into their drive way. Channel 20 had shown a video of him, Hazaar and Lazeer walking about in the mall in town and channel 3 had done a short, simple interview with one of their neighbors who had said that it looked like they were moving into the neighborhood. He had been pretty miffed after seeing all them reports, all them videos of his family and that one interview, when Bile's alarm had gone off at seven he had gone straight across the hall to their mother's room to tell her what all he had seen on his tv.

Naturally, he had been too excited to really get it all out at first in a coherent way, he had been stuttering and stammering like crazy and he had also been flinging his hands about like a wild man. With the way that he had been acting it had not surprised him at all that his mother had asked if he was feeling well, she had laid her hand across his forehead to check once and that one touch had made him be able to talk in a clear way. Hazaar had been in the upstairs bathroom at the time, Guyunis had been down in the downstairs bathroom while Bile and Lazeer had been getting dressed, they had all heard him relay all that he had seen on tv because he had pretty much screamed it out. His mother had surprised him by saying calmly that she'd call Mr. Leinart during breakfast, she had not seemed a bit concerned over their being on six news stations that morning. She had remained calm all throughout making them their breakfast, which was scrambled eggs and pancakes. She had just taken her seat at the head of the table with her breakfast and with a cup of fresh-made coffe when he had shown her the article that was in the Elchesheim-Illingen newspaper.

Seeing one or two news stations running a report of their moving into the house that was in the Grun Bach subdivision would had gotten him upset but only slightly, he had just exploded with angry, fear and nervousness when he had seen that there were six news stations running reports on his family residing in the Grun Bach neighborhood; he had cracked after seeing the local paper having an article on their being sighted in the Grun Bach area. Lhaklar began to wonder about where the old respect that they had been given had gone, when they had moved to Green River, Wyoming the humans had respected them enough to not run any reports on the news stations or make any articles of their moving into their old apartment for nearly a month. The humans had let them get settled in their new home before putting it out on the news and in the papers about where they were. That same respect had been given to them when they had been moving from town to town in Canada and, although the humans had done their reports and their newspaper articles on their family after they had moved to Oklahoma a week after they had moved to that state that had still shown them a good amount of respect. If the humans in the U.S and Canada could give them that respect why the hell couldn't the humans in Europe of done the same thing? Lhaklar picked the newspaper that he had just thrown down on the table, he spread it out then he read the article that had been written on his family for the third time.

_Master Vile in the Americas; Daughter and Family in Europe_

_It has been on the minds of many of where Angel Irene, our planet's heroine, and her five sons went to after her father, the feared Master Vile who staked a claim on our little planet in the Milky Way Galaxy over two thousand years ago, happened on a way to get into the Americas. Many have wondered if the entire family was captured by the ruthless monster, many have wondered if she fled the planet with her five sons for fear that her sons would be harmed by the man who is the father of one and the grandfather of three and still others have wondered if she went into hiding. We all got our answer on where the family went three days ago, the family was all spotted in good healthy in the subdivision of Grun Bach that is in our town of Elchesheim-Illingen. Curiously, they were spotted in the company of our nation's president, Mr. Stefan Leinart. _

_According to sources that have wished to remain anonymous, Angel Irene and her family were all given assistance by our president. Stefan Leinart had been reported to of gone and purchased them a house with his own money and it is also being reported that he has also purchased Miss. Irene a brand new car. Four of Miss. Irene's five sons were all spotted in the mall that was in our town with the fifth, the oldest one that is actually the son of the ruthless monster that is over the Atlantic, taking over the Americas, being spotted in Amsterdam, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Ten months ago Miss. Irene had only four sons in her care, she surprised all of us by showing up in one of the towns of Colorado Springs, Colorado with five sons, she apparently adopted a child before the aliens and monsters that are related to her showed up in Green River, Wyoming, the town where she and her sons lived in ten months ago. _

_The administrative offices in the Chancellery have not returned any calls from news stations or from anyone working for the newspaper, Stefan Leinart has remained very tight-lipped on Angel Irene and her sons and no one working in the Chancellery will speak of Miss. Irene and her five sons' living in our nation of Germany. So far, the monster that is across the Atlantic has shown no signs of coming towards the Eastern Hemisphere or in knowing that his daughter, son and grandsons and adopted-grandson are in Germany._

"After we're all done with breakfast we need to head up and start packing up our things." Lhaklar said, he slapped his hand against the table's surface after his brothers all groaned. "Look, I hate to do it myself but we have to face facts here. Everyone in Europe will know that we are here, everyone will know in the Americas, that tyrant that is in the Americas will find out soon about where we are. It's all over the news and it's now in the newspapers about our being here for crying out loud!"

"We just got through fixing the house up-..." Lazeer said.

"We stay here we get hurt by that... that... that man that is on the other side of the planet, Lazeer." Lhaklar said, although he was trying to keep his cool he was next to exploding.

He contemplated saying out in the open that due to their being so busy in the last three days none of them had read a newspaper or had watched any tv in three days but he kept his mouth shut. He kept his mouth shut on saying that his father, dark dad as he called him, would have shown up if he knew where they were as well. Bile looked at Lhaklar's hot, angry face for just a second then he stood up, he left the table that was in the dining room then went into the living room where his mother had gone ten minutes before. Although it was his mother that he was going to talk to he had to stop to look at how the living room of their new house looked like.

He thought that his mama and Lazeer had done a spectacular job on fixing it up, although it still looked to be a little empty it looked no more like the big, empty space that it had been three days before. Up against the wall from which the foyer was on the other side of there was a red faux sectional couch, it had two, 18-inch red micro suede feather and down filled pillows resting up against the inside of its arms, there was a rustic x coffee table in front of the sectional couch that had a tv remote on its surface. There was a red modern leather club chair up against the wall from which the dining room was on the other side of, it had two textured, red colored, throw pillows resting up against the inside of its arms. There was a round, pedestal side table on the left side of the sectional couch, it had a 14" French oval lamp on its surface. His mama had placed the table's twin on the left side of the modern chair but, unlike the side table that was beside the couch that had the lamp on its surface the table that was beside the chair had nothing on its surface. There was a Bamboo and rattan square floor lamp on the right side of the chair, Lazeer had put it right up against the corner of the wall. There was a 40" big screen tv mounted above the gas-powered fireplace, the gas-powered fireplace had framed photographs of him and his brothers all along its front.

The sectional couch, the chair and the coffee table had been items that his mother had seen and had marked in the catalogue that Mr. Leinart had given her. Except for the big screen tv his mother had gone out to buy the other items that were in the living room, Mr. Leinart had been right generous in buying their family the 40" big screen tv that was in the living room and he had also bought six 30" tv's for their individual bedrooms. Besides the phone, a blue cordless phone that his mother had purchased while out on her solo shopping trip three days ago, that was all that was in the living room. She had said that she didn't want it to look too full, she wanted everyone to be able to breathe a little in the room. After he had taken the room in he began looking for his mother. He found her standing by the gas-powered fireplace, it looked like she had just placed the receiver of the cordless phone down on its base station.

"Ma," he said.

"Biley," she said back.

"Is-... is everything alright?" he asked. "Do you want us to start packing up our stuff?"

"Everything's fine, Bile. No, we're staying here." Angel said.

"Lhaklar wants us to start packing up our things after we finish breakfast." Bile said.

Angel walked forward not in a slow fashion and not in a quick fashion, she walked over to her oldest son in a normal way then she gently turned him around. She led him into the dining room, told him to sit down at his place at the table then she sat down and resumed eating her breakfast. She was glad that it was quiet in the dining room for a few minutes, she needed a few minutes to process all that Stefan had told her when she had called him. She had known that they'd be in the papers soon after their moving into the house, too many people had noticed and journalists had shown up after all, she had done her best to remain calmed after Lhaklar had told her about their being all over the news but, after he had showed her the article that the newspaper that Lazeer had gone out to retrieve from their drive way she had sort of freaked out. She had called the number that was on the card that Stefan had left her and Stefan had picked up right away, he and she had talked pleasantly for a minute before she had switched it up to their being on the news and in the newspapers.

"Miss. Irene, if I may, have you noticed any news coming forward from the Americas lately?" Stefan had asked her after she had told him about worries about her and her sons being on the news and in the newspapers.

"I've been quite busy the past three days, I haven't been able to watch any tv or read any newspaper." she had replied.

"For the past three days there's been a block on any news reaching the Western Hemisphere," Mr. Leinart had said. "I did all the calls myself, I arranged a meeting soon after leaving your place with Europe's other leaders and we agreed that any and all news from our part of the planet will remain on our part of the planet."

She had asked the question on what was going on on the other side of the planet and Stefan had said that things were not good in the Americas. Her father had combined several states, he had ordered civilizations in the forested parts of South America to be torn down or abandoned and her father had also started issuing out his damn tests on the civilians of the Americas. Stefan claimed he had no idea what the tests that were being issued out were about, she did and she had told him as much as she could about them. Normally, a test would consist of maybe a single page of questions or even a small set of stapled papers that had questions on them, her father's test was very different than the standard tests given in schools. His test was practically a small, twenty or so page booklet that consisted of questions that were all about him. All the questions in the twenty something booklet had to be answered correctly, if any question was answered incorrectly the person that had taken the test would be given a fine. Her father was right strict on his booklet test, the civilians of his newly conquered planets were only given one day to study before he issued out the tests. If someone got one answer wrong they were fine a hundred dollars. If that same person continued to get answers wrong on the second try he or she would spend one full week in jail and if that same person continued to get the questions wrong he or she would be thrown in jail for the rest of their life. She had seen her father's own, personal test booklet once, all the questions in it were about him and his life, only someone who either knew him well or had done some heavy-duty studying that'd take up a span of more than a single day on the man's history would be able to get the questions in the booklet right. Naturally, when she had told Stefan all this he had said that her father needed to be thrown in a looney bin. She had agreed with him then they had said their good-bye's before hanging up.

"Momma-..."

"You five had finished working on your rooms right?" Angel asked, out of her five sons only four nodded their heads, Bile shook his. "Bile, what have you left to do with your room?"

"Need to put some shelves up or something for the lamps that I bought three days ago, ma." Bile replied.

"It's been three days and you've yet to put up them cool lamps that you bought in Amsterdam?" Guyunis said in shock.

"Man, you best put them lamps up before Guyunis or I decide to steal them from you." Hazaar said.

"You can have the lamps, I want that Megan Fo-k-x poster Bile put up on his wall." Guyunis said.

"Are the lamps the last things you need to put up in your room, Bile?" Angel asked.

"Yes,"

"Alright, I want that room of yours finished by nine this morning." Angel said.

"Uh, well, I can't really do that, ma. I-..."

"Why can't you, Bile?" Angel asked.

"In order for me to have my room finished I would need some shelves or something to put the lamps on. My bookcase is full to capacity, I'd either need to go find some shelves at the dump or go buy some shelves." Bile replied, he looked down at his plate, his food had barely been touched. "And I have no money to do the latter and I've been too busy with the house to do the former."

"When Mr. Leinart gave you the catalogue you didn't ask for any shelves?" Angel asked.

"No, I didn't think I'd need them." Bile replied.

Angel stood up from her chair for only a second, she reached into the front left pocket of her pair of faded blue jeans for the folded fifty dollar bill that she had put into that pocket that morning. She had done a little late-birthday shopping for each of her five sons three days before, had bought them some things that she thought they'd like. She had hid all them late-birthday presents under the ground from her boys, she wasn't going to surprise any of her sons with their late-birthday presents until their rooms were completed. After Angel dug the fifty dollar bill out of her front left pocket she handed it over to Bile, she told him to use that to get his shelves with then she reached back into the left back pocket of her jeans for the wad of cash that she had in that pocket. She was a fair mother, she never gave one son more than the other and she also never just gave one of her children money while leaving the others flat broke. She had $300 rolled up in her back pants pocket, she deducted $250 of that then distributed $50 each to Lhaklar, Guyunis, Hazaar and Lazeer. The money that she had had in her pocket was what she had been planning to use that day when she went looking for some flowers for the flower beds that were in the front, she saw that giving her sons an equal amount of cash was more important, she didn't want any of her sons to start thinking she was playing favorites.

"Mom, we really should consider leaving. We're all over the news and-..."

"Lhaklar, we're fine. I spoke with Mr. Leinart on our being in the papers and on the news. All news that goes on in Europe stays in Europe, Mr. Mean across the Atlantic won't know anything of us being here." Angel said, interrupting Lhaklar.

"You sure of that? Sometimes things get out and-..."

"It's been three days, Lhakie. If he had read about our being here or had seen us on the news he would have either sent one of his lackeys here or he'd of come here himself." Angel said, again interrupting her son. "We've seen nothing and we've heard nothing."

"How do we know that he doesn't know we're here though?" Lhaklar asked. "We should be careful, someone might slip up or something when they go across the Atlantic to visit friends or s-..."

"One of the humans here in Europe is going to hop on a plane and go across the Atlantic to visit friends or relatives when there's a mad-man in the Americas?" Bile chuckled as he shook his head. "Why the hell would someone go visiting friends or relatives when dark dad is known to be in the Amer-..."

"Out of fear, someone might go across the Atlantic to rescue their family or friends." Lhaklar said. "Your father might also have someone checking the mail as well as it comes in, the mail is still running, someone from Europe could write a relative or a friend and say that we've been spotted here."

Although what Lhaklar had said was true, the mail was still being run so word of their being in Europe could get out by a simple slip up by someone writing a relative in the Americas about their being sighted in the town of Elchesheim-Illingen, Angel made Lhaklar quiet up by telling him some good points. Stefan Leinart had used money that he had worked to earn on them; he had purchased the house that they were now in, he had purchased the Porsche D2 that she drove and he had also given them $5,000, if they left they'd pretty much be giving themselves a bad image as moochers or as being ungrateful. They couldn't just leave and have Stefan Leinart eat up in shame the things that he had generously purchased for them, even though the man had signed the titles to the house and the car that he had purchased over to her it would still be wrong of them to leave. Lhaklar gave his mother a long, sad look them he went back to his breakfast.

As Lhaklar went back to his breakfast Guyunis looked at the family that he had been living with for the past six months, he had no idea who the fool was that they were talking about and he had no idea why Lhaklar was being so nervous about the man. His new mum had told him that they were safe, the shields that she had put all around Europe had been made so nothing could get in or out so that would mean that this "Master Vile" or any of his minions wouldn't be a threat to any of them. Guyunis stuffed the fifty dollar bill in his light brown cargo shorts that had rips in the knees and in both the inner and outer thighs and that's legs had been cut off nearly to the knee of then he did a quick glance around the dining room and the kitchen that he and his family were in.

He was seated on the left side of the dining room table, Lhaklar was on his left while Bile was beside him, his new mum was seated at the head of the table. There were just two chairs on the other side of the table, Lazeer was sitting in the one beside his new mum and Hazaar was in the chair beside him. The Nash Curio China Cabinet was directly behind Hazaar and Lazeer but it was different now, it had glass plates on its shelves. Bile had taken the stickers off of the glass plates then he had handed them other to their mutter to put in the cabinet. After Bile had taken the stickers off of the glass plates he had gone to nail the spice rack up, a nice, three-tier wooden rack that had been made specifically for spices that their mutter had purchased while out on her house furnishing shopping three days ago, on the wall beside the china cabinet. Lazeer and Hazaar had teamed up to put the spices in the spice rack while he, Lhaklar and Bile had helped their mutter in the kitchen.

He had removed the sleek, black Sunbeam microwave that had a digital clock above the touch-sensitive buttons from its box then he had placed it on the surface of the counter that came off of the counter bar and the normal counter that was connected to the kitchen sink. Lhaklar had put the silverware organizer in the drawer that was on the far side of the cabinet that's counter was connected to the counter bar then he had placed the silverware in it before moving on to put the knife block that had five, different sized, knives in it up on the edge of the counter bar. Lhaklar had placed the cooking utensils; the plastic and wooden spoons, the spatulas and the spoons that had holes or slots in them, in the drawer beside the one that he had put the silverware organizer and the silverware in afterwards, he had then moved on to removing the stickers from the plastic plates, bowls and the cups that their mother had purchased.

There was a laser-operating can opener on the counter that was on the right side of the stove and there was a Hamilton Beach coffee maker that had a cutting board underneath it on the counter that was on the left side of the stove. He had removed those from their boxes and he had also put them up on the counters that they were on. The Oster Osterizer 14-speed blender that was on the counter that was across from the kitchen sink had been taken out of its box by Bile, it had also been put down on its counter and plugged in by Bile. Their mutter had put the dish drain and its tray beside the kitchen sink after she had put a towel down first then she had taken the toaster that could fit four slices of bread it in out of its box, she had put that beside the can opener before saying that everything had been done in the kitchen and dining room, he and Lhaklar had just put the broom, mop and the vacuum cleaner in the kitchen closet that was across from the basement's door at the time. Guyunis didn't need to know what all had been put underneath the kitchen sink, he knew simply by instinct that Bile had put the windex, the Mr. Clean, the dish detergent, the sponges and the Ajax there and he also knew by instinct that there was a bucket; a small, yellow bucket with a handle on it, under the sink as well. The kitchen, the dining room and the living room had all been done in one day, their mutter had stopped them from doing any further work in the house, she had said for them to simply get ready for supper and to relax. They had worked on the bathrooms, the closets and their rooms the two days that had followed.

"I've got some things to do outside today, girl-things that you find bunch of boys would groan and be bored to death with. I want you five to go out someplace today, enjoy yourselves, don't get into too much trouble though." Angel said. "Be back by ten-thirty, there will be a few surprises waiting for all of you if Bile gets his lamps up in his room by then."

"Uh-oh, she said surprises." Lazeer said loudly, he then started slapping his feet down on the floor. "We're all stampeding now towards you, mom, about them surprises."

"What kind of surprises?" Guyunis asked, he found himself to be right curious.

"You'll find out after ten-thirty." Angel said, she said no more afterwards.

He forced the near cold food of his breakfast down his throat then he stood up. He excused himself then he took his plate and his fork to the sink, he gave them a quick washing then he placed them on one side of the before turning and leaving the kitchen and then the dining room. There was the sound of a chair scraping the floor afterwards, his mother lightly snapped at Guyunis to be careful with the chairs and the floor, he heard Guyunis apologize quickly then he felt someone's hand wrap around his wrist a second or two later. Bile turned around only halfway, shook his wrist free of Guyunis's hand then he gave his adopted brother a good, long, look before heading out the door. He and Guyunis were like he and his biological brothers, sometimes they didn't need to say a thing to each other to know what one wanted. The question had been pretty clear in Guyunis's slightly slanted, glowing yellow eyes when he had been locked in looking at him, Guyunis had wanted to tag along with him and he had given his approval for such a thing to happen.

He and all of his biological brothers got along great, he hung out with all of them quite a lot despite also having the required needs to just have himself to hang out with, he relished in their company as he was close to all of them despite their little issues: Lhaklar had a way of trying to act like the daddy which was annoying from time to time, Hazaar had a way of being a bit too touchy from time to time and Lazeer cracked jokes at just about everything that he saw and drove him, and his brothers, crazy. Guyunis, regardless of his not being of blood-birth relation, was of no exception, he enjoyed having him tag along with him and he was just as close to him as he was to his biological brothers. He had not yet found the little issue that Guyunis had to him that was annoying, he was one of them extremely nervous types but he had a reason to be, had the humans who had either adopted him or had inherited him after their parents had died of treated him better instead of like crap he would not be as nervous as he was. Bile, clad in a pair of the blue jeans that he was wearing that had large holes in the knees, a gray shirt that had three tears in the chest and stomach areas and that's collar had a big hole in it and a pair of brown leather, 6-inch boots that's laces had been tied tightly, stopped after exiting the house that a majority of his family was still in. He gave the pocket that was on the left side of his pants a pat on instinct to see if the $50 that his mother had given him was still there then he reached back to see if the wallet that he had slid into the left back pocket of his jeans was still there. With both items still on his person he looked over at Guyunis, who was clad in just a pair of light brown cargo shorts that had rips in the knees and in both the inner and outer thighs and that's legs had been cut off nearly to the knee of and a pair of waterproof logger steel toe boots. Guyunis had no shirts to his name, he had only been thrown the trash that his former adoption families had given him which were badly torn or ripped pants and pairs of underwear that's elastic had been stretched to its limit and that had holes all throughout it. Bile remembered laughing like a maniac after Guyunis had told him that he had thrown the underwear that he had been tossed away, Bile only needed to be told that to know that his new, adopted brother wore nothing underneath his pants to protect him from material burns.

"Ready to go to Bile Territory, Bro?" Bile asked Guyunis.

"Sure, where's thak-t?" Guyunis asked.

"Where did I spend all the money that ma and Lhaklar gave me three days ago?" Bile dropped his left eyelid in a wink. "Free-For-All land."

"Hold on a sec-k-ond," Guyunis said.

Bile stood just outside the front door that had swung open after his brother had gone into it, even before Guyunis came out from the house Bile knew what it was that he had gone back into the house that was all theirs to get. Guyunis never went out in public nor let anyone except for them to see him without his hoody on, the humans that had had him before his mother had done a number on his self-confidence. They had made him think that he was downright disgusting and ugly which, Bile knew but wouldn't say directly to his new brother's face, was not true. Bile knew that Guyunis had changed a lot over the past six months but he also knew that his new brother still had a long way to go before he was fully settled and before he began to act in the way a normal mid-teenaged kid would act. When Guyunis came out of the house he was wearing the remnants of the blue hoody that he always wore when he went out in public, he had just set it on his head right when Bile reached over. Bile placed the palm of his hand on Guyunis's arm then he teleported them to the place that he had gone three days before to do his bedroom furnishing shopping and, also, to buy some pot. When they got there Bile stepped away from his new brother, he walked on down the yellow sidewalk alone for a few seconds before Guyunis appeared on his left.

This was the exact same stretch of sidewalk that he had found himself walking on after teleporting to Amsterdam three days before, it's yellow concrete ran a short distance before going gray and the reason for that was clear. There was a bridge up ahead of him and Guyunis that ran across a river. Bile had looked the river up after he had happened up it, the river's name was Amstel. According to the pamphlet that he had picked up in one of the conveniently placed locations located near by, the river had originally began at two, smaller rivers called the Drecht and the Kromme Mijdrecht which had joined together a little south of Uithoorn. The pamphlet had said that after the construction of the Amstel-Drecht Kanaal, the canal of which he and Guyunis were now stepping onto, the river and the canal now began where the Drecht and another canal, the Aarkanaal, meet one another near the town of Nieuwveen.

What else he knew about Amsterdam was pretty basic, his mother had only taught him the basics of the place when he had been a child and them basic teachings had sprang out from his memory banks right soon after she had said that their family might be living in Germany. Amsterdam was the capital city within the Kingdon of the Netherlands, it had started as a small fishing village in the late 12th century and it had gotten its name from the Amstel river, which Amsterdam was located at the mouth of. It had about eight districts in it and the population was currently over a million. In 2013 its overall population had been 3,500,990 but with all the plagues and natural disasters that had happened over the two thousand, two hundred years its population had dropped to just under 900,000 persons. Regardless of how little he knew of the area he had come to it and there was one reason why he had. Amsterdam was well known for its many Cannabis coffee shops, Amsterdam was pretty much a free-for-all place for folk who liked to smoke something other than cigarettes and cigars. A human could just walk in, take a seat, order something then take out a joint or a pipe without hearing the you'll-get-in-troubles from anyone. The air within the Cannabis coffee shops was usually thick with Cannabis smoke so one didn't necessarily have to bring something to smoke in the establishment, one could just plain get a contact high from just sitting in the place. He had gone straight to one of the Cannabis coffee shops right after grabbing the pamphlet to either buy some weed over the counter or find a reliable human who would assist him in getting some weed. The humans that had run the shop that he had gone into had been no help, he had not been allowed to purchase anything because he had been a tourist so he had simply waited outside one of the shops for a human to come out. It had taken him three attempts before he had found a human willing to help him that was reliable, he had spent $120 of what he had had on his person three days ago on some good mid-grade pot after the human had brought it to him then he had gone bedroom furnishing shopping for himself afterwards. Bile wouldn't admit it vocally but he did have enough smoke in his boot for two so if he and Guyunis wished to have one of them back alley weed smokes they could, he had to find a place that sold shelves or some sort of short bookcase first though.

"You know the language, righ-k-t?" Guyunis asked.

"Ja," Bile replied.

"I don't," Guyunis said. "I know only English, French and German."

"I know several languages so if any of the locals says anything to you that you don't have a clue of ask me to translate." Bile replied, he had actually started off learning Vilian and Moasian as a child before his mother had taken them and fled to Earth. His mother had insisted after he and his brothers had reached eight hundred and fifty years of age to learn some of the languages of Earth, she had taught them her learned languages which were German, French and Latin first then she had said for them to pick a language separate to learn. He had picked Welsh for his fifth learned language while Lhaklar had picked Japanese for his. Hazaar had decided on Greek a few years after he had learned how to speak in German, French and Latin and Lazeer had picked Dutch for his fifth learned language. Naturally, since they had all already known how to speak English, they had not had to learn that language. He and all of his biological brothers had decided to pick up each others fifth language soon after graduating from either Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic or the University of Telepathy. His mother had even joined in with them in learning their fifth languages which had been nice, the tutor and the parent had also become the classmate and the student.

Only because he had learned that not all humans were bad did he not say that he hoped that none of the humans walking around spoke to him, his new mum had worked hard, but slow, with him to get him to where he was now and he was doing his best to keep himself where he was although even that seemed hard. Sometimes he just wished that his family would move away from the planet, would reside on another planet far away from humans but he knew that doing that wasn't a wise or good thing to do. Guyunis followed Bile at a comfortable distance, he backed off about a foot but he didn't stop following his brother nor did he look away from Bile's backside. Bile looked back occasionally to see if Guyunis was still with him but he mostly looked forward, he was looking for one store in particular that he had seen three days before when he had been free-buying. He wasn't free-buying this time, he had to be wise with the money that he had on him, it had to be used solely on some shelves or on something that had a surface sturdy enough to hold three lamps. If he had some left of what his mother had given him yeah, he'd do maybe one small free-buy purchase but, if not, he'd be happy with what he had plain come to Amsterdam to get. Bile led Guyunis along the sidewalk that was on the bridge that went over the canal then he led him on for another mile before he found the store that he had seen three days before. It was a small shop, neatly squished between a store that sold cool, novelty things and another store that sold plain magazines and pastries. The store had a full glass door that swung in on squeaky hinges, the letters on the door spelled out Greta's Kringloopwinkel, the latter word in Welsh meant the basic; the store that was squished in-between the other two shops was a small thrift store that, Bile hoped, was bigger on the inside that what it looked like on the outside. Bile opened the glass door, he cringed when the hinges squeaked then he went into the store, Guyunis followed behind him. The door squeaked shut but it didn't slam or bang shut, it closed silently and cleanly behind them.


	8. Chapter 8

Bile and Guyunis were instantly blown away by the general look of the inside of the store that they had gone into, they had not expected for the store that had been squished in-between two other, bigger stores and that had a small front to be so big on the inside. The inside of the building that they had just walked into seemed to stretch on forever, there seemed to be no end to the store at all and the store had been arranged in a very neat and orderly fashion. To their left, Bile and Guyunis saw clothing racks that held dresses, blouses and jeans. To their right, Bile and Guyunis saw egg crates full of old toys that had not a speck of dust on them. There were boxes of socks and shoes in front of the clothing rack that had the dresses and blouses while there were stands that had children's clothing in front of the egg crates that contained the toys. A magazine rack was up against the wall beyond the boxes of socks and shoes while, in front of the magazine rack there was a series of two-shelf bookcases that contained books.

Coffee tables were either leaned up on the wall behind the stands that had the children's clothing on them or they had been placed down on the floor on all four legs. There were two rows of kitchen chairs and stools behind the coffee tables then a row of kitchen tables followed, Bile walked forward after he had seen that the two rows of bookshelves placed behind the row of kitchen tables. Guyunis was in a sort of shock after seeing what all was in the store, he was left all alone in front of the front door. He had always envisioned thrift stores to be dirty, filthy and unkept places but this thrift store looked to be very clean and very well organized. After craning his neck a bit to take a closer look at the bookcases that had the books on them he saw that there were two registers in the establishment. There were two humans running them, both women and both very attractive in appearance. One of the women had blonde hair while the other had chestnut-brown, the blonde haired woman had a rose tattoo high up on her left arm while the chestnut-brown haired woman had her hair set in a perm. Guyunis shook his head to clear it then he walked forward, he saw that Bile was already checking the bookshelves out so he figured he'd best start looking around as well. There was a box that had what looked to be some rolled up, old posters in it about five feet from where his oldest brother was so he went to it.

"Is that who I think it is?" Cyndi Aeron said, she gestured towards Bile who had his back turned to her.

"If that's that cretin that took over the Americas and is causing hell-... Stephen! Stephen, come over here please." a short, black-haired man who was right big, both in girth and in muscle, walked over after Ava Iwan called him over. "You had a good view of that fellow there," Ava pointed at Bile's backside. "is that the monster that is across the Atlantic in the Americas or is he someone else?"

"No, that fellow is half green and half yellow. Vile the Terrible is half blue and half yellow." Stephen Cothi replied, he had seen a news reel of Master Vile that morning after getting up so he had a pretty good idea of what the monster looked like. "Most probably his son."

"The monster's son?" Cyndi repeated.

"We don't want him here. Give him the toss-out, Stephen." Ava said.

"Miss. Iwan, I do think you need to calm down some." Stephen said, when Ava gave him the stern look he remained cool. He was a pretty confident fellow, he was twenty years older than both Ava and Cyndi, he knew well how to keep his composure. "I don't think he is here to cause trouble."

"If he's the son of that Vile monster in the Americas he will cause trouble." Ava hissed.

"Doubt it, I do believe that his mutter is Angel Irene. If Angel Irene is his mutter I highly doubt he will cause any trouble for anyone." Stephen said.

"He's going to scare away the customers!" Ava said in a fiercely low voice.

"There's thirty-some people in the store, none have gone running out the door after he and his dark-skinned buddy walked in." Stephen said, when Ava cocked her head at him he rolled his eyes then turned away. "If you wish to have him thrown out do it yourself, Ava. I'm surely not going to."

That old song that had been written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in 1975, Rock and Roll All Nite, had pretty much been her song from junior high on through to the twelfth grade. She had started smoking weed in the seventh grade then she had started doing crystal before deciding to quit to dedicate herself to her schooling. Her parents had threatened to send her away to a boarding school for girls if she didn't stop with all the drugs and with all the back-alley and street fighting that went along with the drugs, she had only passed the seventh and eighth grade by the skim of her teeth while she had actually had to repeat the ninth grade. She had passed the second time she had had to take the ninth grade and had been getting good grades in the tenth grade when someone had slipped her the good ol' "Hamburger", a white pill that had made her think that she had gone in time to the 1970's.

She had gone right back into the old routine again after taking that "Hamburger", the schoolbooks had gotten dusty, her homework had stopped getting done and she had started to not go to school. She had barely gotten through the tenth grade then she had found herself having to repeat the eleventh grade three times before the school had decided to go on and pass her just to get her out of the building. She had gotten into fights, had come home with her face bleeding in several places and her knuckles had been torn open by the constant fighting several times. Her front teeth had been knocked out so she was wearing a partial denture to cover the empty spaces where they had once been. She had ended high school on a bit of an even worse note after finding herself to be pregnant, she given birth to a little girl nine months later which had been put in the custody of her parents, she had only been allowed to name her daughter before it had been taken away from her. Her parents had disowned her soon after she had given birth to her daughter, they had said that they did not want to ever see her again and she had said the exact same thing back.

She had gone right back into the drug-scene a month after giving birth to her daughter and it was then that she found herself getting into trouble. She had been arrested twice, once for having crack cocaine on her person and the other for having acid and marijuana. Both times she had been arrested she had gone to jail, the first offense had gotten her six months while the second had gotten her two years but she had gotten out of jail on both early due to good behavior and the promise to not do drugs again. She had to take drug screenings once a week, she had to go to drug counseling twice a week and she had to wear an ankle bracelet, her parole officer had spoken to Greta Terfel about letting her work at her shop and Greta had said that she could as long as she stayed out of trouble. So far, six months after getting free from jail, she had not touched a single drug nor had smoked a single cigarette or had drank anything alcoholic.

She had given Greta Terfel and Stephen Cothi, a forty-five year old man who had a wife and four kids and who had been volunteering his time at Greta's Kringloopwinkel for fifteen years, some trouble in them six months. She and a male customer had gotten into a fight after he had come in smelling of pot, she had wanted no one near her with that smell on them as she had feared that her bracelet would go off and she'd be taking a one-way ride back to jail for going against parole. Another male customer and she had gotten into a fight over a kid's toy, he had been asking her some questions on it and she had been damn agitated that day due to withdrawals. She had run two female customers out afterwards, she had thought that they were shoplifting when they really weren't and then there was the case last week of where one of them religious freaks had come into the store, she had just gotten the bloody rose on her left arm done. When the religious freak had seen her tattoo he had started in on her about how she was destroying the body that God had given her, when he had seen her ankle bracelet he had started up on her about how she should feel ashamed of herself for letting herself go down the path of destruction. She had told the guy off, he had left and Greta Terfel, an elderly lady who had gray hair and eyes and who had a slightly hunched over back, had told her to go on home. Mrs. Terfel had come very close to calling her parole officer that night a week ago to tell her that she couldn't keep her in her volunteering service.

"Pleeeease, don't create a problem, Ava." Cyndi begged, she had walked out from behind the register that was beside the one that Ava had been behind a second before. "He's not doing anything bad, he's just looking at the furniture. Probably looking for something to-..."

"It doesn't matter, he's the son of that demonic monster and that whore-daughter of that demonic monster's, he has it bred in him to create problems." Ava said.

"His mutter is not a whore!" Cyndi whispered in fierce shock. "Ava, Angel Irene has helped us! If it wasn't for her putting the shields up over the towns, cities, parks and neighborhoods we would be under the control of-..."

"She had sex with her dat, that's enough to be called a whore to me." Ava said back.

"Av-... she is not a whore and her son has been here for less than five minutes!" Cyndi grabbed Ava's wrist when Ava continued to walk forward towards Bile, she pulled Ava to a stop then she turned her around. "That boy would have already caused problems long before now, leave him be!"

"Go back behind the register, Cyndi." Ava said back as she walked forward.

"He's just a customer!" Cyndi tried to pull Ava back but Ava was able to get free. Once Ava was free she walked briskly across the aisle towards Bile. "Ava! Dammit, Ava! He's-..."

He knew what was going on behind him and that was why he had not turned around to see who was coming up behind him, he felt a quite a lot of anger over the fact that one of the women behind him had called his ma a whore but he forced the flames that burned within his chest to drop down to a small flicker. He had had to endure this quite a lot, a woman or a man in some store taking his appearance in then starting their judging. Who was he? Bile Vile. Who was his sire? Vile fuckin' Vile, a man who had hurt his dear ma something awful then had raped her. Who was his mother? Angel Irene, the daughter of Vile fuckin' Vile, a man who considered himself to be a master of every damn thing in sight. Let's look past the fact that Bile Vile has lived on Earth for the past one thousand, six hundred years, let's look past the fact that Bile Vile had done nothing to disturb the humans and their way of life. He's the son of the evil Vile so he has to be looked down upon, the innocent Bile Vile will forever be the son of the evil one who can't leave anything alone. After he had come home from Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic he had had to endure all this shit and it had hurt him something awful, he had wanted to yell it out that just because he was the son of the evil Vile Vile didn't mean that he'd be walking in the man's footsteps. He had been raised by his mama, who knew no evil nor had ever done anything evil. The only reason why he had kept them yells in was because his mother had said that the best thing he could do was show by way of action who he was, meaning; walk around, keep acting like himself, show the humans that he was not evil and that he meant no harm to anyone.

"It'll be hard at first, you're going to feel a lot of mixed feelings but, after a while, things will calm down." his dear mama who he loved so very much had said to him. "You have to show courage, Biley. Only by walking and acting like yourself will you earn the trust of the humans."

She had only been able to offer him support and wisdom back then, she had let him do the walking and the showing on his own but when he had needed a shoulder to lean on and an ear to speak to she had been there for him. With every move that his family had done over the years he had found that each location that they moved to and resided in had folk that either resented him because of his father or who turned a blind eye to the fact that he had been raised by his mother instead of by his mother and his evil father, there had also been folk who had not learned what all his ma had done to protect the planet. They saw the shields, had heard the talk that was passed around from generation to generation about where they had come from but they had not learned anything about his mother in school. He had gotten into several fights with the humans over their calling his ma derogatory words such as slut and whore, after he had gone home and had explained the reason why he had wounds on his body from the punches he had taken from the humans that he had fought his ma had said for him to plain let it go in one ear and out the other.

"There will always be stubborn ones around, Biley. Doesn't matter if they are human or alien, there will be time when you come across the stubborn, arrogant and ignorant ones that insist that one being is slime." she had said to him while she had been cleaning and then wrapping his busted knuckles up in bandaging. "Best thing to do when you come upon them is nod your head then turn around. I know you love me, you fight for a purpose when you come across humans that call me them names. Won't really matter though, them arrogant, stubborn and ignorant ones will continue talking that way, you're best to just walk away from them."

He had found a reclaimed wood bookshelf that had five shelves on it and that was long, had it not been for the human that was walking up behind him he'd of gone to ask one of the humans that were standing around if it was available and how much it was. Bile found himself suddenly uninterested in the piece, it was pretty and it would look good in his room and it was also what he was looking for but his interest had ebbed down so low that he could barely look at it anymore. Bile took a breath in then he turned around, the human who had called his mother a whore looked like she was about to say something to him, her mouth was open. Bile looked the woman up and down quickly; the woman had long, blonde hair and gray eyes. The woman had an average body build and she stood above five foot, seven inches tall, she had a bleeding rose tattoo on her left arm that looked right new to him. She was dressed in a pair of blue pants, a black tank top and some white tennis shoes, Bile had time to notice that the woman had a black band around her left ankle that had the big box strapped onto it before the woman spoke.

"Yeah, you go on and get out of here!" Guyunis turned around, he had found nothing of interest in the box that had the rolled up, used posters in it so he had gone down nearly to the back of the building. So far, he had found nothing of interest. What he saw made the pit of his stomach churn, the blonde haired woman that he had seen earlier was practically on top of Bile, she was jabbing a finger at him and he was leaned back and over slightly. "We don't want none of your kind here! You tell that old fag dat and that slut of a mutter of yours that, neither of you are wanted and are not needed either."

"Ava!" a man who was pretty chubby and who also had some rather muscular arms said. The man had black hair, cut short, and he had brown eyes. Guyunis saw that he was wearing a red t-shirt and baggy brown pants, he had black boots on his feet that were rather dusty. "Leave the kid be, he's doing nothing but-..."

"I don't give a damn! He can look in another shop, this one does not allow for ones who have Master Vile in their DNA." the blonde haired woman snapped, she shoved Bile towards the door. "Get out, now! Get out and don't-..."

"Ava, leave him be!" the chestnut-brown haired woman said loudly, she had her hands laced in with her hair. "He's just a kid, he's Angel Irene's son! He's doing nothing wrong but-..."

"He's evil just like that old fag of a dat of his!" the blonde haired woman screamed.

Guyunis walked briskly back to the front of the store, he knew exactly what was going on and he didn't like it one bit. The woman was pushing and shoving his bruder to get going out of the store, she was stomping her feet and making a ruckus, the other humans that were in the store had stopped browsing through all the things that had been put out, all of the eyes that were in the establishment were locked on his older bruder and on the blonde woman that was assaulting him. Guyunis's chest started hurting, he was growing very pissed off at what all was going on. The short, black-haired man and the chestnut-brown haired woman walked up to the blonde haired woman, they grabbed at the woman but she managed to get by them. She kicked Bile in the rear twice then, when he turned to face her she did something that made Guyunis shout. The slap that the woman gave out to Bile sent him falling back two steps then he lost his footing and fell. Down one second, up the next, Guyunis saw Bile run right out the store. Bile didn't bother opening the glass door, he ran right through it then he turned and went to the right.

"Are you bloody insane?!" a dirty-blonde haired young man exclaimed after Bile had crashed through the front door of the store.

"Someone call the constables and have this woman arrested for assault!" A woman who had a young infant in her arms yelled.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?!" the chestnut-brown haired woman cried.

Guyunis stood back in a sort of dazed shocked, it seemed that everyone in the store was ganging up on the blonde haired woman that had just run his older brother off. There were women with children coming towards the woman, there were women holding infants jabbing their fingers at the blonde haired woman and there were men shouting at the woman all at once. The blonde haired woman was walking around in circles, going from one of the humans to the next, pleading her innocence and sending up a gale of bad language towards anyone who said otherwise. The short, black-haired man that had been trying to make the blonde haired woman leave his bruder alone had rushed off to the back, he had ripped a gray-colored phone's headset from its cradle then he had started dialing crazily. Guyunis could see him talking on the phone, the man seemed right excited, right frantic as he was throwing his free hand all over the place. Despite his curiosity over what the black-haired man was saying on the phone, Guyunis slowly made his way around the humans that were around the blonde haired woman, he made as little noise as he could so not to attract any attention to himself. When he was half way by the throng of humans he found himself unable to cope with his curiosity. Why the hell had that one human gone away from the rest and why was he on the phone and who was he talking to and what was he talking about on that phone? Guyunis turned around then jabbed his hand in the lone man's direction.

"Ukuthula izixuku! Let the private conversation across the room be heard loud and clear to my ears." Guyunis said, after he said the spell he dropped his hand, the group of humans that were around the blonde haired woman suddenly went mute while the black-haired man's conversation on the phone could be heard loud and clear to him.

"Stephen, I'm very confused at the moment. Tell me slowly what happened at the shop again please." an elderly, dry voice said.

"Ava ran another one of our customers, Greta!" the man that Guyunis figured was the Stephen the elderly woman on the other end of the phone had referred to. "We had two non-human customers walk into the store, one of them was Angel Irene's oldest son, Bile Vile. Ava yelled at him, she assaulted him by kicking him and then slapping him and-..."

"Angel Irene's oldest son was in the shop today?" the elderly woman that was on the other end suddenly seemed very interested and very alarmed.

"Yes!"

"Where is he now, Stephen?" the elderly woman asked.

"I have no idea, after Ava slapped him he ran off. He ran right through the front glass door. There are shards and pieces of glass everywhere in the front and-..."

Guyunis undid the spell that he had done to make the crowd around the blonde haired woman go mute and then make the private conversation that the man named Stephen was having on the phone then he quickly shoved himself through the crowd that was still around the blonde haired woman. He heard a lot of watch it's and gasps of surprise as he went by. His brown leather, waterproof logger steel toe boots crunched the broken glass that had come off of the front door of the store as he left the store, he felt a shard go through the sole of one of his boots but he didn't slow up to see if it had gone all the way through or not. Once he was out of the store he turned right, when the sound of sirens reached his inner ears he went faster. He felt two fears at once; he feared that whoever it was that was driving the fuzzmobile that was making the sirens sounds was coming for him and he feared for his older brother. Where had Bile gone after running out of the store and was he okay? A third fear joined them two after he had contemplated teleporting back to the house that he and Bile had left that early morning. This third fear was basic, it was an automatic fear that chilled him down to the core.

What would mum do if he teleported home without Bile? Would she yell, scream and holler at him for coming back home alone or would she grab him in a hug then tell him to go on upstairs to his room while she went to Amsterdam to find Bile? Bile had pretty much left him alone but he understood why, had it of been him instead of Bile being assaulted by that damn human he'd of run off and left Bile behind too. Guyunis was surprised that his older bruder hadn't said anything to the woman after she had started yelling her fool head off at him for no reason at all or for her kicking him in the rear or slapping him, he would have surely told the woman to back off if it had been him instead of Bile being yelled at or kicked or slapped. Shit, he might have even returned the woman's slap. The woman had had no right to hurt his bruder, he had been doing nothing wrong, he had just been looking at the stuff that was arranged in the store, he had been minding his own business. Guyunis ran down the sidewalk, made a left turn then he slid to a stop. He turned around then ran across the street, he jumped over the hoods of two cars then he turned a full, tight circle as another car side-swiped him. Car horns blared and humans yelled at him to get out of the way, after he had straightened out he ran on across the street. He ran up the sidewalk on the street that he had just risked his life to get to then, just as the pain in his hip started to grip him and slow him down, he made a turn into the alley that opened up off of the sidewalk. He slid to a stop then he leaned up against the building that was on the right side of the alley. His hip started to throb at the moment that he heard the shaky sob coming from the alley's back. Guyunis turned his head then squinted his eyes, the light in the alley was pretty poor but he could see that Bile was seated on a dumpster that was in the far back of the alley.

"My m-m-ma is not a wh-wh-whore or a sl-sl-slut..." Bile sobbed.

"Bile?" Guyunis said, all he got back in return was a loud sob and Bile saying that he was not evil like his father. "Bile, it's-..."

"Gew... away." Bile said back, shakily.

He knew it was way wrong to ask if his bruder was okay because he knew he wasn't and he also knew that if he did he and Bile could well get into a fight. He knew from hearing that shaky voice and the sobs that came off from it he knew that his bruder was experiencing an emotional moment. Guyunis knew the feeling all too well of how one of the male gender felt when they had a teary moment, he had felt degraded and ashamed of himself each time he had cried on the edge of whatever piece of busted up furniture he had been given to sleep on by his former adopted families after he had been verbally abused or punished for some unknown reason by either the head of one of his former adoption families or by the woman that the head of his former adopted family had been married to. Mathis Meyer Jr. had come very near to breaking his wrist and jaw once when he had swung that heavy, black belt that he always used as a form of punishment on him and Lenora Meyer had actually fractured his elbow twice after swinging the pipe that she had used as her punishment weapon on him. Guyunis reached his hand up, he touched the left side of his face when he remembered Lenora's habit of slapping him five times in a row in front of her and her husband's children once a day. If he so much as flinched while lifting the couch up to run the vacuum under it she would come running up to him with that hand ready to swing, she had once kicked her foot into his groin for not wrapping the hose up after using it to water her damn flowers with and she had also swung a broom at his backside when the kitchen floor had still been damp five minutes after he had mopped it. He had had to endure twenty years with Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr., twenty long years of abuse from them. Guyunis shook his head then he started looking around the alley that he and Bile were in.

Much of what he had seen of the world around him he had only seen from outside the windows of the former families that had had him as their ward, he had never been allowed to walk out on grass or feel the sun shit his skin or even feel the wind blow his hair back until Angel Irene had taken him in after he had turned three hundred and seventy-three years old. He had nearly forgotten what it was like to feel his skin become warmed up by the sun or feel the wind blow his hair back between the times that she had taken him in and had raised him among her own sons and when his real mum had sent him away to be with the uncaring humans that had come into the orphanage looking for a child to adopt and call their own. Being that he had been confined to attics or basements for most of his life, he had never been able to experience seeing stores or walk in towns or cities, he had just taken for granted what he had read in the books that he had found in the attics that his former adoption families had had.

One of his favorite authors, H.P. Lovecraft, wrote of shadowy alleys that had a half-seen horror to them. What he saw here in this actual alley was far from horrible, it wasn't scary but he guessed that if he had happened on it during the nighttime hours he might be a trifle bit edgey. The entire alley was shadowy but that was mostly because of the buildings that were around it on three sides, they shielded the alley and made it a few degrees cooler. The bricks of the buildings were not thick with green slime or crawling with all manner of bugs, they were simply chilly and rough in texture. There was garbage on the ground but that came from either when the humans missed the dumpster when they went to throw some trash away or when a rodent or a stray dog came around looking for some food that had been thrown away. There were no shabbily dressed, scraggly faced homeless people sitting against the sides of the buildings with brown bags of whiskey lying across their laps, there was some graffiti on the walls of the buildings, stuff written by teenage kids or by gangs or by people who saw themselves as artists. The dumpster in the back was not slick with slime or oil, it was dirty but that could be explained by it being a plain dumpster. Guyunis moved slightly from the side of the building that he had been leaned up against, his hip screamed in pain and he nearly collapsed. Guyunis bit down on his lower lip hard to keep the yell of pain from escaping, he leaned heavily against the side of the building as he walked over to the dumpster that Bile was sitting on. It was his left hip that was hurting him, he didn't know if it was just badly bruised or cracked or broken, all he knew was that it hurt him and bad. When he reached the dumpster he dropped down to his knees, he felt blood flow between his teeth but he didn't release his tight hold on his lower lip. Guyunis slowly pulled his legs out from under him, when he was sitting fully on the ground he let his lip go. He gasped his pain then he sighed in relief over letting that gasp out then he leaned back.

"That human was wrong-k, Bile." he said to his brother, Bile had his back turned to him. He looked to have stopped crying, he was now very quiet. "Mum's not what that human said she is, mum's a good human. She's-..."

"Ma's not a human, Guyunis." Bile said.

"She looks it." Guyunis mumbled, Bile turned around and looked at him. His glowing, yellow-green eyes were glazed. "Well... she does. She looks very human-like and-..."

"Ma is not a human, never has been one and never will be one." Bile said with a growl. "She's almost pure Vilian."

"Pure what?" Guyunis asked.

"Vilian."

"What's a Vilian?"

Good question, he actually had no answer to it because he had not a clue as to what a Vilian was. His ma had told him that a Vilian was a being from the planet Gamma Vile, a planet in the M-51 Galaxy that his father had under his control and the planet where his father, and all of his family, had actually been born on. His ma had never really told him what, exactly, a Vilian was or what a Vilian looked like. Bile looked at his new brother in silence for a long time before laughing. It started out low and barely audible then it picked up until it was a big roar. Bile laughed until tears rolled out from his nearly closed eyes. He laughed until his sides, stomach and chest hurt him. He slapped his hands against the lid of the dumpster twice, when a black cat jumped out from behind the dumpster he laughed even harder. It was only when Guyunis asked him if he had gone crazy that his roaring laughter started to drop off. Bile's face felt like elastic when the last laugh left him, it felt stretched and sore. Bile slid off from the lid of the dumpster then he went towards Guyunis, he held his hand out for his brother to grab. Guyunis grabbed it slowly, when his hand was in Bile he felt himself being yanked up off of the ground.

"Why the hell you limping, G?" Bile asked, Guyunis had moaned loudly then he had grabbed his leg after he had pulled him up to his feet. When Guyunis said nothing in return Bile walked forward, he ran his hand over his brother's left leg slowly before lightly touching the hip that was attached to it.

"Dude! Hands off!" Guyunis exclaimed, he slapped Bile's hand off of his hip. "I don't swing-k that way."

"Did that human back at the store do something to hurt your leg, G?" Bile asked.

"No," Guyunis moved off to lean against a building.

"What's wrong with your leg then, bro?"

Bile forgot about the woman that had assaulted him and who had insulted his ma, his pride had taken a serious beating after the woman had kicked him in the ass and then had slapped him but it had healed up in the five to ten minutes that he had simply sat on the dumpster in this alley. Guyunis was his brother, one of his younger brothers which meant that he had a right in acting protective of him, when Guyunis continued to not answer his question of what was wrong with him and when he continued to have trouble staying on his feet Bile walked over to his side. Bile had a slight fight on his hands as he turned Guyunis fully around to his other side, Guyunis shoved him several times and he swung his fist twice but Bile was insistent on finding out what was wrong with him. Bile found himself having to really rely on his strength to keep Guyunis up against the building, Guyunis was strong and he was insistent that he was fine, when Bile had Guyunis where he wanted him to be he reached down to feel the leg that his brother was having problems with. He didn't much like what he felt in the hip region at all, he knew that the ball of the thigh bone usually was located inside the hip socket of a being but, on Guyunis, there was a noticable bump above the hip socket. Bile knew of only one injury that would be like that, after he had found what he believed what the issues was with Guyunis he gently released his brother then he stepped back.

"Think it's time we went home, G." Bile said.

"I'll be fine," Guyunis said, his hoody had been pulled back in his struggle to get free from Bile, Bile could see that his brother's face was slick with sweat. "just need a minute."

"Who hurt you, Guyunis?" Bile asked. "Was it that woman back in the shop? Did she kick you or-..."

"No, when I was running-k to find you a car swiped me." Guyunis replied, his arms shook slightly as he worked to keep himself balanced on one leg. "I'll be fine, swear."

"A car swiped you?" Bile blinked his eyes in shock.

"I'll be fine." Guyunis said again. "Gimmee a min-..."

"No! We're going home and now." Bile exclaimed, he grabbed Guyunis by his wrist then he teleported them back home in near panic.

Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer had gone out to spend a little time on the town after finishing their breakfast ten minutes after Bile and Guyunis had left the house, she had cleaned each dish and silverware that her family had used then she had put each of them in the drain before deciding to get a head start on her flower shopping. She had spent $50 on dark red Astilbe's, a hardy herbaceous perennial flower that was cultivated by gardeners for their large, handsome, often fern-like foliage, and dense, feathery plumes of flowers that was in the family Saxifragaceae that was native to mountain ravines and woodland in Asia and North America. She had noticed how the sidewalk in the back was nearly always covered in shadows she had decided to go for that one, particular, flower as Astilbe did well best in shadowy or water-logged areas. Her plan had been to plant a line each of the flowers on both sides of the sidewalk and, so far, it did look like her plan had worked out because all of the Astilbe flowers that she had planted were bobbing healthily in the slight breeze beside the sides of the sidewalk. The stems of each flower were straight, no flower had dropped as she had planted it and no petals had fallen off either. She had been careful and patient in putting them flowers down.

After she had planted the Astilbe flowers she had gone right back to the same flower shop for some Monrovia Speedwell, a flower that had abundant spikes on its stems and that was easy to grow and maintain. She had purchased some Baby's Breath, a flower that had a spray of white on its bright green stems, afterwards. Both of those flowers she had put in the flower beds before heading back to the flower shop for the last flower that she wanted to put in the beds. She had purchased quite a lot of yellow Chrysanthemum's, a flowering plant in the genus Chrysantemum that was sometimes called mums or Chrysanths, at the shop before heading back home. The flower beds were not yet fully complete, there was still some space left for more flowers but, after nearly an hour of planting flowers around the house she had grown sort of bored. Her sons had all been out of the house for forty-five minutes, she had been busily planting flowers for nearly thirty-five minutes, Angel figured that a day's break in planting more flowers was needed. The house that she and her family had been generously given had definitely been brightened up, the flowers were really making the house look like it was being lived in. Angel removed her gloves then she started collecting the plant containers that littered the sidewalk, she had just put five into one container when a heated breeze struck her.

"Ma!" Angel turned around quickly, her fiery red hair swung from over from her left shoulder to her right. She dropped the five containers that she had collected then jumped up.

"Bile, what-..."

"Ma, I think G's dislocated his hip." Bile said, Guyunis was leaned up against him.

"I have not!" Guyunis exclaimed. "It's bruised, nothing-k more."

"What happened for his hip to be hurt?" Angel asked, she walked over then started helping Bile take Guyunis inside.

"He says that a car swiped him," Bile said. "he was-..."

"A car hit him!? Where was you when he was hit by the car?"

Angel unlocked then swung the door open, she guided Guyunis down the small foyer then into the living room. Once they were in the living room Angel led her sons to the sectional couch, she had Guyunis lie down on the couch then she grabbed Bile's arm. She tugged Bile out of the living room to the kitchen where she demanded an explanation be told of why Guyunis's hip was hurting him and why they thought he had a dislocated hip. She felt her temper gauge rise to a dangerous level as Bile explained all that had happened; he and Guyunis had gone to Amsterdam, the same place that Bile had gone to three days before. They had gone into a thrift store to browse, Bile said he was looking at the shelves and bookcases when a human approached him and told him to leave the store on account that he was the son of Master Vile. Her oldest son's right cheek was a very dark green color and that was because the human that had approached him to tell him to get out of the store on account of his paternity had slapped him, Bile also told her that the human pushed him, poked at him with her finger and kicked his rear end twice. Angel told Bile to sit down in one of the dining room table's chairs then she went to tend Guyunis, Bile had told her that he had left Guyunis behind in the store after he had been slapped and he had also told her what Guyunis had told him about his being swiped by a car while he was running to find him.

"M-mum-..." Guyunis said, he was shivering but not out of pain. He was scared to death.

"Sssshhh, Guy. You don't have to be afraid any, you're not in any trouble." Angel said, she sat down on the couch beside Guyunis.

"I-... I didn't mean for that car to-to run into me, mum." Guyunis said.

"No one ever does, sweetie." Angel said, she reached her hand over, she brushed the hoody that had come nearly off of her adopted son's head.

"Bile and I in trouble for going-k to Amsterdam, mum?" Guyunis asked, he flinched then moaned when Angel lightly ran her hand over his left hip.

"No, as long as you two don't create any big-time trouble you're fine to go wherever you want in Europe." Angel replied, she swallowed her anger when she felt the slight lump that should not be there in Guyunis's hip. "I'm angry at that human for hurting Bile and I'm angry with that human that hit you but I'm not angry with either you or Bile."

Angel told Guyunis to stay where he was and to not move his left leg or hip then she went into the kitchen for a large bowl of water. She stopped only once to place a reassuring hand on Bile's back, his hands were in fists, they were up against his forehead, she had only to look at the way the muscle in his shoulders moved to know that he was crying. She told him to calm down then she went on to fill a large, blue bowl with water. She returned to Guyunis afterwards, he looked at the bowl in confusion then he looked at her, she gave him a hug then she waved her hand over the bowl of water. When a strand of the water rose up from the bowl she quickly moved it over to his injured hip, Guyunis winced once then he calmed down after she started moving her hands around and around over the hip that was injured. It took only five minutes before the dislocated bone in his hip, and any other bones that had been chipped or cracked, to heal up, when his hip had been healed the water that she had been using had turned to a dark brown color. Angel made the brown water wrap around her left hand then she placed her hand into the bowl, the brown water mingled in with the clear water, it turned the water in the bowl brown for a second before it all went back to being clear.

"Wh-what was that, mum?" Guyunis asked, he had been watching the entire time as Angel had healed his hip with the water. He slowly stretched his leg leg then he slowly stood up.

"Water Healing, it's a sub-power in the Elemental Water power." Angel explained, Guyunis slowly walked around the living room.

"I had no idea you could to that, mum." Guyunis said. "I feel no pain, it's like-..."

"It's an advanced move in the Elemental Water power, it can also be done in the Elemental Fire, Ground and Air powers." Angel said. "You're all healed up now."

"C-can you teach me, mum?" Guyunis asked, although she had taught him how to use some of his powers she had not taught him the power of healing with water.

"I will one day. You will need to get a bit more steady and advanced in your powers before I can." Angel said, Guyunis walked over to her then he stopped. He reached into his cargo pants for the $50 that she gave him an hour ago. Angel held her hand up. "No, G. Same goes with Bile in the kitchen, you keep that money. It's yours, whatever money I give you is yours to keep. You can either save it up or use it on whatever you wish to use it on."

"You sure, mum?" Guyunis asked, he looked down at the fifty dollar bill for a second before stuffing it back into the pocket that he had taken it from.

"Yes, Guy. That is your money now. You keep it." Angel said, she stood up from the couch. "You and Bile have had a rough hour, I suggest that you two head on up to your rooms. Read a magazine or something to get yourselves calmed down. I've got to clean up the front yard a bit."


	9. Chapter 9

Naturally, when she had seen the small, gray mini stereo system that had two small speakers in the store that she had done all of her smaller furnishing shopping in she had thought about her sons. Her biological sons had packed up several of their music CDs six months and one week ago and they had had to live with borrowing Guyunis's old portable CD player to listen to them, Guyunis had no music CDs to his name so he had gladly let them use his player, she had been marvelously proud of her boys when they had done a spell to make the headphones that Guyunis had that went with his portable CD player grow so that Guyunis could join in on the music listening. The mini stereo had had a price tag of $39.95 on it but she hadn't really been paying any mind to its price, she had been thinking about her boys and about the fact that they had gotten nothing when their birthdays had come around except for an extra special meal cooked up by her. Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer had come home from their town outings about two hours after Bile and Guyunis had returned from their disastrous outing in Amsterdam, she had made her sons wait an hour longer before telling them to look under their beds.

There had been a lot of yelling in surprise, a lot of oh wow's and there had been a lot of hugs going her way when they had seen the systems, Guyunis had been a bit shy and confused at first but he had come around to being just as excited as his brothers soon after finding his mini stereo system. The mini stereo system had not been the only thing she had gotten for her boys as late-birthday presents, she had done some shopping for all of them afterwards, she knew her boys well and she knew their interests so she had looked specifically for things of their interest that she had thought that they'd like.

Her sons had done some shopping for some posters a week before, they had all gone down to the basement to make poster-cuts of the cardboard boxes that the moving men had left behind and then they had taped all of their posters to them poster-cuts before putting them up on the walls of their rooms. She had bought each of her boys, Guyunis included, a poster each of one of their interests then she had decided to just concentrate on their music interests. Bile was one who liked loud and noisy music so she had looked for that type of music for him. Lhaklar was one who liked R&B music so she had looked for that type of music for him. Hazaar was one who liked rap so she had looked for that type of music for him while Lazeer had a high interest in Reggae music along with also having an interest in other music genres, finding some music for him had been hard but she had found him two CDs each of music that she thought he'd like. Guyunis was like her oldest son when it came to music but, she had had a feeling that he was also one who liked the music that was louder than loud and that made one want to go crazy so she had looked in the metal section of Walmart for that kind of music. She had also purchased each of her sons a little male jewelry, a necklace that she had thought they'd like to wear or some wrist bands or something like that. They had all loved their late-birthday presents and they had thanked her more than once for them, all of their mini stereo's were hooked up and they were really putting them to use.

Bile had wisely done the full-house silencer spell before they had started using their mini stereos, it was either him or Lhaklar who did the spell and they had pretty much been doing that spell for four days straight now. Angel sort of wished that they'd do the room silencer spell because, at the moment, she could heard every lyric and guitar solo and bass solo and so on that was in the music that they were listening to. The wall in front of her and the walls that were on either side of her were bouncing, she did not have to ask if her boys had them systems of theirs cranked up to full blast or not, she had only to look at the wobbling of the walls around her in the master bedroom that was hers to know that their stereos had been cranked up to their utmost volume.

"If an earthquake was to happen right now I'd not know of it," she thought as the wall in front of her and as the walls on either side of her wobbled. "I should really invent the word sonquake, an event that happens inside the house after ones sons race about upstairs or when ones sons turn their music up to a terrifying level of volume."

It was only a little after noon of August the 7th and she was already feeling the effects of fatigue but Angel knew that if she decided to take a nap she'd not be asleep for long. Sleep would not last long with the music on either side and in front of her being at its loud volume, she'd either had to wait until it was time to go to bed that night or go and tell her sons to turn the volumes down on their stereos so she could nap for an hour or two. It wasn't really all five of her sons playing their music in the house that day, if it was all five she'd not be lying on the bed that she was on. Lazeer had gone out and so had Lhaklar, it was only her, Bile, Guyunis and Hazaar in the house. Lhaklar had taken her Porsche D2 for a ride into town while Lazeer had said he was just going to walk along one of the unnamed creeks that ran through the neighborhood. He claimed he was doing a project, a mapping project where he was just drawing the creeks, streams, rivers, forests and valleys that were around them. Angel had no idea why he was doing that, whenever she asked him why he was mapping the area's topography he'd not tell her, he just said it was a simple, innocent project that he was doing. Hazaar seemed to be right interested in Lazeer's little project, she had caught them two in the living room once looking over the map that Lazeer had drawn up. Angel figured that as long as Lazeer was staying out of trouble, and going outside in the sunlight instead of staying inside to mope and moan, he was fine.

She had no clue as to where Lhaklar went with her car, he had asked her for the keys that morning and she had handed them over without question. All four of her biological children drove, she had taught them all how to drive hundreds of years before and they were all marvelously good drivers - well, with the exception of Bile. She had heard things from Lazeer and Lhaklar about how Bile drove, they claimed that he was foot heavy on the petals and that he cranked the music up that he brought along to a very loud level and they also said that he sped when he had his music playing. She had warned her oldest son twice about his driving habits about a hundred and twenty years ago, when he had continued to drive in that way she had taken his driver's license for a week. Although Lhaklar and Lazeer still tattled on their brother about his bad driving habits it had slowed down, she had only had to take his driver's license once in the past thirty years. Lhaklar was a pretty good driver, very smart and steady behind the wheel, she was confident that her car was safe in his hands. Of her four, biological sons only two had driver's licenses, Hazaar and Lazeer did not have a license yet, they had simple learning permits that would soon be exchanged for the real licenses. She had talked to the folks that ran the Department of Motor Vehicles in Wyoming into doing this for her sons, normally a learning permit ran six months to a year but for her sons a learning permit ran five years and them five years for Lazeer's and Hazaar's learning permits were nearly up, they had just four short months left before they'd be given their actual driver's licenses. The only one of her boys that did not know how to drive was Guyunis, she had plans to teach him how to drive soon.

"I did my time and I want out. So effective, fade, it doesn't cut. The soul is not so vibrant. The reckoning, the sickening. Packaging subversion. Pseudo sacronsanct perversion. Go drill your desserts, go dig your gr-..."

"Guyunis!" Angel screamed, the lyrics to that one particular song she didn't much like and he had the music up so loud that she could hear it all loud and clear. "Turn the volume down, Guyunis!"

She didn't say it again, she got up from the bed then started for the door. Hazaar had helped her put the master bedroom that was all hers together. The elegant, modern bed that was in the room had been placed right by the window, there was a small bedside table beside the bed that was white oak, it had a large waisted ceramic lamp on its surface along with the basic, two-bell, alarm clock. On her left, across the room was a white oak dresser, there was a 30" big screen tv mounted on the wall over it. There was a white oak bookshelf beside the walk-in closet that had nothing on it at the moment. Except for the big screen tv, all of the items that was in the room that was all hers she had seen in the catalogue that Stefan Leinart had given her a week ago. She had circled the pictures of each of the items that was in the room and they had been ordered and then delivered and then set up in the room. She had kept the furniture for her room basic, she had not wanted to go crazy on the asking even though Mr. Leinart had insisted that she mark anything in the catalogue that she wanted to have in her room. There was a box in the walk-in closet that had some framed photographs in it but that was really it for her room, she wasn't going to go all-out on decorating the room. There were some dark blue curtains in front of the window and there was a blue botanical comforter set on her bed, she had put the bed skirt and the two shams that had been in the set on the bed after finding them in the set, the curtains and the comforter set she had purchased for herself specifically for her room while out a week ago, they were the only things she had purchased for her room.

Angel opened the door to her room then she walked out, she turned to go to Guyunis's room which was to the right of her but then when she heard the loud cymbal sounds coming from Bile's room she turned to the left and went towards his room instead. She figured it was best done this way, Bile first then Guyunis then Hazaar, she'd go to tell her sons in order of their ages to turn their music down then she'd go back to her room to take a nap or something. She was now starting to get a headache from all the music that she was hearing, how her boys were able to listen to their music when it was being played so loud without hurting their ears or getting a headache themselves was beyond her. She was sure the police would be knocking on the front door if Bile hadn't of done that full-house silencer spell, her sons were playing their music so damn loud she bet the neighbors all the way up the street would of been able to hear it had he not of done the spell. She was sure that Bile was playing Ozzy Osbourne in his room, she could hear the lyrics that the man had sang many thousands of years before. Angel was also pretty sure that, when she opened the door that was in front of her oldest son's room her hair would be blown back. She was expecting it so, when it happened she didn't really act but so surprised.

"BILE! TURN THAT DOWN THIS INSTANT!" she screamed. Bile, the second he saw his mother, shot up from his bed. He ran over to the stereo that was on his bookcase, instead of doing as his mother had said in turning it down he turned Ozzy Osbourne completely off.

"Ma! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to be but so l-..."

"You and your brothers really are trying to bring this house down aren't you?" Angel said, she rubbed her temples with the fingers of her left hand. "I didn't say for you to turn it off, just drop the volume."

"I'm sorry," Bile said again.

Angel shook her head then she walked into Bile's bedroom, she was not one of them parents that went into their children's rooms to snoop or just to pop in for a surprise visit, it was usually only when her sons were sick or when they asked her to come take a look at something that she went into their rooms. She was a cool parent, she let her boys express themselves. As long as it wasn't too far out there, she was cool with their hanging posters that showed off their sexuality and she was cool with their decorating their rooms in crazy or outrageous things.

She did draw the line in some of the things that her sons had in their possession. A few days before she had told Lhaklar no after he had asked her if he could make the wallet-sized photograph of a fully naked Marilyn Monroe that he had in his wallet become poster sized. He had found the photograph of Marilyn Monroe in Wyoming some time ago, from what she had been told he had taken it to someone to be blown up to poster-size then he had hid it behind the Uncle Fester poster that he had had ten months before. It had been hiding behind that poster for quite a long time before his father had found his way into the shield, via the help of his Goblin employees of course. His father had refused to give her son his poster back so she had given him the suggestion of using his telepathy to make a smaller version of the poster, apparently he had done that and, apparently, Bile also had a copy of that same photograph.

"You going to start charging admission into this museum of a room of yours, Biley?" Angel asked.

She had had a feeling that Bile would be leaving a lot of marks in section of rustic-made furniture that had been in the catalogue the Stefan had given her and her family, Bile was one who liked rustic-made items and each of the items in the rustic section of the catalogue had looked right up his alley. The rustic log framed bed; that was up against the wall that had multi-gray and black stereo and speaker designs on it and on the two pillow cases that had been included in the comforter set that her son had purchased while out seven days ago in Amsterdam, the rustic bedside table that was beside the bed that had been constructed of rugged, reclaimed pine wood that had been combined with log corners and that had two drawers on it that had pull accents on them and the six drawer, rustic dresser that was mostly made of reclaimed pine boards and that had log corners and drawer pull accents that had a beeswax finish to it had been placed up against the wall across from the side of the bed had been the first things brought into her son's room by the movers.

The smaller items that Bile had seen and had marked in the catalogue had been brought to his room all together in a large, cardboard box. The Spine Lamp, a lamp that had been painted with a false gold paint and that had been made of a flexible plastic that had been molded to look almost like a human's spinal column, was on the bedside table's surface. The light fixture of the lamp was round and sturdy, it held a single, round bulb, Bile had told her himself that the molded plastic spinal column of the lamp had been made so it was flexible, he said that his lamp could be bent or curved. The alarm clock that Bile had also seen in the catalogue had been placed right beside the lamp, it was one of those Steampunk ringing skull alarm clock's that's eyes lit up red and that shook when the alarm went off. The little rectangle that was under the skull's jaw had digital numbers in it that said it was 12:16 pm. That was all that was on his bedside table, it looked to her like her son was keeping it basic for now. There was a 30" big screen tv above Bile's dresser, it's remote was on the surface of the dresser.

The weather tempered rustic bookcase that had five shelves on it had been one of the two last things brought into her son's room by the movers, her son had gotten the movers to put it up against the wall across from the foot of his bed. The final piece of furniture that the movers had brought into the room was the corner desk with its matching chair, they had placed that in the corner that was opposite the one that the corner of the bed was against. The corner desk had only three legs but it was pretty sturdy, her oldest son said he might like to do some model building from time to time which was why he had asked for the desk. Except for the other two lamps that her son had seen in the catalogue that Stefan had given him, those two furniture items were the last two items that her son had seen in the catalogue and had liked enough to ask for. The rest of the items that was in her oldest son's room he had bought himself with the money that she had given him.

"What do you suggest I charge for admission, ma?" her son asked her. "A dollar twelve? Two dollars?"

"A room-museum of this magnitude calls for a three dollar admission fee, Biley." Angel replied.

What made her son's room look like a museum to her were all the hunting trophies that he had collected over the last six months that were set up all over his room. His bookcase was nearly dominated by hunting trophies. On the top shelf of his bookcase there was a stuffed North American Porcupine, an animal that was usually dark brown or black in color and that had hollow spines or quills all along its back and sides. That animal had been difficult for her son to collect, he had been surprised when it had walked by him. After he had noticed the creature then had killed it he had reached down to grab it. Angel remembered her son's coming back to the cave in Colorado with both of his palms being covered in the creatures quills, even though she had gently plucked the quills out of his hands his hands had been very sore for nearly a week. Since the Porcupine that he had killed had been a little on the thin side she had suggested that he either take it to one of the taxidermists in the town nearest their cave or throw it out, even with his hands being sore he had gone to Manitou Springs, the town nearest the cave that they had lived in at that time, the day after. When he had shown her the result of what the taxidermist had done to the Porcupine she had been impressed, the stuffed Porcupine looked very well preserved, it looked like it was still alive. The Muskrat skull that was beside the stuffed Porcupine he had found a week later while out on a simple walk, he had liked it enough to keep it. He had knabbed a living Muskrat the day after and, since that animal was small and since no meat could have been collected from the animal - it had weighed only four pounds, there was no way a family of six could make a meal of a Muskrat, he had gone straight back to the same taxidermist that had stuffed his North American Porcupine to get the Muskrat preserved and then stuffed. The two juvenile Mountain Lion skulls that were beside the stuffed Muskrat were the last things on the top shelf of his bookcase, he had placed them on the shelf facing each other. He had hunted both animals in one night, they had been barely two years old and both had been creating trouble near the cave that they had been living in at the time in Colorado.

The shelf underneath the top one had the mini stereo on it, Bile had his magazine editions on the left side of the mini stereo, the seventeen CDs that he had to his name were on the right side of the stereo system. She found herself surprised that her son had not used the money that she had given him in the past week to buy any other CDs with, surely there were some CDs out there of music that had gone under his radar. Curiously, the shelf underneath that one was empty, the shelf that was under the empty one was pretty full. Angel struggled to not laugh when she saw that his stuffed American hog-nosed Skunk was on that shelf, after they had moved from the Cave of the Winds to the Hobo Cave Bile had decided to take a short sight-seeing walk. He had disturbed a skunk while doing so, the animal had sprayed him and he had gotten angry. From what she had been able to gather from him, he had ran at the animal then he had grabbed it up. He had broken the skunk's neck when he had picked it up, when he had come back to the cave he had smelled right horribly and he had been pretty upset, he had felt right bad over letting his anger take over after the animal had sprayed him. She had gone into town for the tomato sauce an hour later then she had kicked her foot down to make a hole in the ground outside of the cave drop so she could fill it with the tomato sauce. While Bile had bathed himself, had gotten rid of his skunk-smell, he had cried and had said to her that he knew why the animal had sprayed him. Skunks sent out their stinky sprays only in defense and, sadly, the skunk that had sprayed him had only sprayed him because it had perceived him as a threat. After he had gotten the skunk-smell off of his body and had calmed down he had asked her if he could go to the nearest town to find a taxidermist, he had wanted to get the skunk stuffed. She had said that he could and he had gone to do that shortly after ridding himself of the skunk-smell that he had had, the skunk that was on the shelf of his bookcase was a right pretty animal, it had a single, broad white stripe going down its back, it started from the top of its head then it went on down to the tip of its tail, the rest of the animal was black. The fur of the stuffed skunk was very soft, the nose was pink and it had some right long front claws. The stuffed skunk had been placed on the far end of the fourth shelf, her son had placed his stuffed juvenile Turkey beside it and, beside the stuffed Turkey was his stuffed Ring-tailed cat.

She had been surprised when he had walked into the Hobo Cave, the cave that they had resided in for a while before her... and Bile's father had happened on a way into the shields, with the Ring-tailed cat. She had thought that the Ring-tailed cat had gone extinct but, from what her sons had said, there were plenty roaming outside the area surrounding their then-resident cave. The animal that he had brought into their then-resident cave had been right pretty and it was still pretty now. The animal had buff to dark brown fur that had white underparts and it had a flashy, black and white striped tail that had 14-16 black and white stripes on it. The tail of his stuffed Ring-tailed cat was longer than that of the rest of the animal, the animal reminded Angel quite a lot like one of them Ring-tail Lemur's more than it did a cat. The last item that was on the bookcase was the bigger of his smaller hunting trophies, it was a complete bear skull. On the last day of their being in Colorado Bile had happened on a Black bear and he had decided that not only would the skull be a good add to his hunting collection but so would the fur and, also, he had known that the meat from the bear would keep him and them going for a while. Bile had the Black bear's pelt stretched out across the base of his bed's frame.

"I see you included your mounted Mountain Goat and Hartebeest heads in your museum, son." Angel said after seeing that her son had put the preserved and mounted Mountain Goat and Hartebeest heads up on the wall beside his bedroom's door.

"They cost a quarter extra for viewing, ma." Bile lowered his left eyelid in a wink.

On the wall on the right side of his bedroom's door frame Bile had hung one finely preserved and mounted Mountain Goat head. When they had still been in Colorado he had done quite a lot of hiking to find the herd, when he had found the herd he had singled out one male buck then he had tossed a ground spear that he had made shoot out of the ground after stomping his foot down. He had taken the animal straight to the taxidermist in Boulder, Colorado, the closest city near their then resident cave, the taxidermist had severed the head from the body then he had cleaned it, preserved it then had mounted it to a piece of mahogany wood. Bile had specifically asked for the main body of the animal to be given back to him which the taxidermist had, they had feasted on the animal's meat all the while the taxidermist had been working on the head. Bile had shown the preserved head of the Mountain Goat to her and his brothers a week later. The head, face and neck was covered in thick, white fur, the animal had a fluffy, white beard and black eyes. The horns were black, they were about ten inches long, her son looked to be keeping them very well polished as they had a right nice shine to them.

Beside the preserved Mountain Goat head was a preserved Hartebeest head. On the last day of their being in Africa Bile had decided to head out to find a herd of Hartebeest, an Antelope species that had come by hard times, it had once roamed Africa in the thousands but, thanks to the ever changing temperatures that Africa had faced over the past two thousand, two hundred years and the increase in poaching it had struggled, there were now two thousand, four hundred animals in the wild today. After a few hours worth of hiking Bile had found a herd of about three hundred animals grazing in a little valley, he had singled out one of the older animals then he had thrown his ground spear. The animal had fallen on the spot, not only had it been old but it had been exhausted after being pursued by Hyenas and Lions for most of the day, her son had barely gotten to it before the Hyenas and Lions had. He had cut the head and neck free of the animal himself then he had taken it to a taxidermist in Europe for it's preservation and mounting. The preserved Hartebeest had a long face, the entire animal had been a light, dull, sandy-brown color, it's horns curved in an S-shaped pattern with the tips of both horns curving inwards, they had a reach of about twenty-four inches and, like the preserved Mountain Goat's horns Bile looked to be keeping the Hartebeest's horns well polished because even they had a good shine to them.

"And you also put up your horn collection as well." Angel said after she had seen that her son had put the five pairs of Antelope horns that he had collected while they had been in Africa.

"Yes ma'am, my room wouldn't be complete without them." Bile said proudly.

They had all been put up around his window and all five sets of horns had a shine to them so Angel didn't have to ask if he was taking good care of them or not. The heavy spiral horns of the Bongo Antelope had been hung up on the left side of the window, the horns were long and pretty massive, they had one and a half twists to them and they were about thirty-one inches in length. The Nyala Antelope's horns had been hung above them, they twisted twice and were a dark brown color with the tips being yellow. On the right side of the window Bile had hung his Bontebok rack, both of the horns in that set curved gently, each of the horns in the set had rings that went almost to the tips, both of the horns had a length of fourteen inches. The Kudu rack that was underneath the Bontebok's horns was right impressive, the horns were of delicate fashion, they were right slender and fragile to the naked eye. The Kudu rack was a nice, dark brown color, both horns had two and a half twists to them and they both had a length of about twenty-eight inches, the tips of the horns were white. A set of simple, Wildebeest horns hung above the window, her son had actually found them one day while taking a simple walk.

Angel shook her head then she started taking in the other things that were in her son's room. There was a dark brown, Tuareg rug on the floor beside her son's bed. She had been surprised when she had seen him coming back to the Hobo cave with it, the rug was rather expensive and he claimed that he had found it in one of Colorado's dumps. There was a black and white poster of Megan Fox taped to one side of a piece of poster-size cardboard above Bile's headboard. Megan Fox was standing in the center of the poster in a black and white bead and lace bikini, her hair had a tousled look to it and she had a seductive look on her face. The poster on the wall above the side of her son's bed was another black and white one, the poster had Elizabeth Taylor in it wearing a one-piece, white bathing suit. Miss. Taylor's shoulder straps were sliding down from her shoulders so some cleavage could be see, she was down on her knees in the ocean's tide. She had a mysterious and sultry look on her face. The poster that she had purchased as a late-birthday present for her son was tacked up beside the Elizabeth Taylor one, the poster had an unknown model in it that was lying down on purple silk, the model was wearing nothing more than a purple and black lace bra and panties.

"And I see you put your lamps up," Angel said after she had seen the five lamps that were on the two shelf, small rustic barnwood bookshelf that she had gone out to get for her son after the woman in Greta's Kringloopwinkel had run her son out of the store after assaulting him. The elderly woman, Greta Terfel, that owned the store had called her up a few days after the event had happened to apologize and to offer the item that her son had been looking at for half the cost, she had politely turned the woman down.

There was a giant lava lamp on the far side of the small bookshelf, it had a red fluid in it and it was plugged in. Another lava lamp, this one curiously called a Jack-O-Bats Lava Lamp, was beside the giant lava lamp. That lamp was about seventeen inches tall and about six inches wide and it had resin pumpkin and bat designs on its base and on the topper piece, it had an orange and dark yellow liquid inside its globe. A purple, mini ribbon electra plasma lamp was beside the Jack-O-Bats Lava lamp, all three of them lamps her son had purchased in a store in Amsterdam seven days ago, the two lamps that followed the ones that he had purchased in Amsterdam he had seen in the catalogue that Mr. Leinart had given him to look at and leave his marks in. The lamp beside the plasma lamp had a Coyote skull around a bulb, the skull was all lit up at the moment which she did think was cool. The lamp that was beside the Coyote skull lamp was very similar to a lava lamp, it had a base platform and a topper piece but, instead of liquid that rose and fell after it got heated up there was an alien fetus floating around in the globe in bright green fluid.

"I don't mind you listening to your music, Bile. Just down the volume some, with you, Hazaar and Guyunis all having your music up to high-level volume it feels like I'm in the middle of a quake." Angel said.

"Okay ma," Bile said.

She closed the door to Bile's room after she left it then she stopped, it seemed that Guyunis had either decided to give his ears a breather or he was in-between switching CDs, the only music that she could hear was Hazaar's now. Angel decided to go over and tell her thirdborn son to drop the volume on his music, she couldn't so much hearing the lyrics but the bass in his music was so loud that she thought she was in the middle of a full-drum, drumming band. Hazaar had purchased one of them vintage, aluminum signs four days before that had the slogan _No Trespassing _on it, it also had _Attack Dog on Premises _with a very on-guard Doberman Pinscher between it and the No trespassing slogan. The aluminum sign had been screwed into the center of his bedroom door, Angel knew that the sign was only something to show his personality, he'd not hurt any one of his brothers if they walked into his room and he didn't have a Doberman Pinscher either. Angel grabbed then twisted the doorknob, when she pushed Hazaar's bedroom's door in she felt the same sensation of having her hair blown back, Hazaar's music was so loud that her ears started to whistle and pop. Angel rushed into the room that her thirdborn son had claimed as his, she ran straight over to the mini stereo. She twisted the volume dial down six levels before turning around to look at her starled son.

"Are you trying to make blood come out from your ears, Hazaar?" she asked, the headache that she had started to feel only minutes before seemed to of grown worse.

"I-... I didn't know it was that loud, momma." Hazaar said weakly.

"Don't give me that, you had this thing turned to fifteen, the highest level on this stereo." Angel said.

"Okay, how about I was just really into the music?" Hazaar said, he sat up on the bed that he had been lying on. Angel saw that he had been reading one of his magazines while listening to his music.

"You keep this thing down," Angel pointed at the mini stereo fiercely. "no more, Hazie! Level six in the volume is fine, don't damage your ears or destroy your stereo."

Hazaar was a very different individual than Bile, he liked very different things but that was okay because he and Bile were not suppose to be fully the same. If they had liked all of the same things they'd be near twin-like and Angel, honestly, was glad that they were not. Having one Bile was enough for her, the same went for having one Hazaar, Lazeer, Lhaklar and Guyunis. The bed that was in the center of the room was completely encased in a faux brown leather material that was right smooth and soft, her son had wasted no time in making a check mark next to the picture in the catalogue that Stefan had given him, it had a comforter on it that had white and yellow lightning bolts on a multi-blue and black background, fitted sheet and normal sheet that was on his bed was white while the pillow cases that were over the two rectangular pillows matched the comforter, her son had purchased the comforter, fitted sheet and normal sheet seven days before with the money that she had given him, the light blue blanket that was between the normal sheet and the comforter he had also purchased seven days ago. The lacquered brown bedside table that was beside his bed was another item that he had seen in the catalogue that her thirdborn had been given by Mr. Leinart, it had two drawers on it and a small storage space underneath the top.

There was a Himalayan Salt lamp on the bedside table's surface, he had told her that he had liked the description that the catalogue had had in it about the lamp that he had just had to have the it. The lamp looked like a crystallized rock and it lit up a multi-orange, yellow and red color which Angel did think was rather cool. Beside the Himalayan Salt lamp was a Jinmei Quartz Locomotive Train alarm clock, this was another item that he had seen in the catalogue. Angel knew well that her thirdborn liked trains so when she had seen that alarm clock in the catalogue she had known that he would ask for it, it had had Hazaar's name written all over it. All the way across the room from his bed was a simple, brown dresser that had five drawers on it, another piece of furniture that he had seen in the catalogue that Stefan Leinart had given him that he had marked. The dresser had nothing but a remote control on its surface, the 30" big screen tv that went to the remote had been mounted on the wall above the dresser. The dark brown espresso bookcase that had four shelves on it that the movers had placed across from the foot of his bed and the corner desk that had three legs and the chair that went with it had been the final furniture items that he had marked in the catalogue, the corner desk and chair had been set up in the corner opposite the one that the bookcase had been put against. Hazaar was on who built a lot of models, he was one for building space ship and train models.

Hazaar had a good collection of hunting trophies as well, although he hadn't made his room to look like a museum like Bile's he had put up each trophy he had collected from his hunts. There was a mounted Pronghorn head hanging above his bed with the skull of a bull hanging beside it, he had found the bull skull while walking about in one of the deserted towns of Colorado, he had gone to see a taxidermist in Boulder, Colorado after taking down a bull Pronghorn a week later. The horns of the Pronghorn head was composed of a slender, laterally flattened, blade of bone that grew out from the frontal bones of the skull forming a permanent core. The horn structure of the horns had given the animal its name, they were pronged. Hazaar had asked the taxidermist that had preserved and then attached the head of the Pronghorn to the mahogany board to keep the hooves, all four of the Pronghorn's hooves were on the top shelf of his bookcase. He had a stuffed Ruffled Grouse, a bird built much like a chicken but that had multi-gray feathers and scales on their bodies and no spurs on their feet, beside the Pronghorn hooves and beside the Ruffled Grouse was the skull of a piglet Giant forest hog, her son had found the skull one day while out on a walk when they had been living in Africa.

The shelf that was under the first one on the bookcase had the mini stereo on it, Hazaar had placed his magazine editions and his fifteen CDs on either side of the mini stereo. There was nothing else on that shelf, the one underneath had one of the weirdest, yet most unique, trophies on it. There was the preserved Warthog piglet in a jar, Hazaar had found the piglet on the same day that he had found the Giant forest hog piglet skull. He said it had been lying all curled up under a bush, he had decided on trying to self-preserve it and boy had he been successful in doing so. Hazaar had thoroughly dried the mummified Warthog piglet before letting it become wet again, he had dried it twice more before finally burying it under a few feet of sand that was near their then-resident cave in Egypt. When he had exhumed the piglet a week later he had found it perfectly preserved. Beside the preserved Warthog piglet was a perfectly preserved head of a Vervet money, a money that had a mostly a grizzled-gray color with the face being all black with a fringe of white hair around it. Hazaar had actually wanted to preserve the entire animal but, before he had been able to get to it after it had fallen from the tree that it had been on a group of Chimpanzees had happened on it, he had only been able to collect the head of the animal after the Chimpanzees had left the area. He had a fully preserved Mongoose beside the preserved Vervet head, he had knabbed the animal by simply dropping on it, the animal was a tawny color and it was long and lean, it had narrow, ovular pupils in its eyes. The Mongoose was the last item on the shelf but it wasn't the final hunting trophy that was in her thirdborn son's room.

Right at the end of his bed was one of the biggest Red river hog's she had ever seen. Her son had stalked the big hog, that was about four-foot, nine inches long, and two sows for nearly an hour before springing forward into the open. He had thrown a ground spear, that had missed the boar by mere inches, then, when all three of the creatures had charged at him he had made the ground drop at just the right moment. After the hogs had been trapped in the hole that he had made to trap them in he had thrown several ground spears at them before jumping in with a knife to finish the male animal off, from what he had told her the females had dropped quickly while the boar had been right difficult to bring down. Her sons and she had eaten the meat and organs that he had collected from the two sows, he had taken the boar to the same taxidermist that Bile had taken his Hartebeest head to in Europe. The animal that had been preserved, stuffed and mounted on a piece of brown wood had striking red fur with black legs and a tufted white stripe going along its spine, the animal also had tufted ears. The face of the animal had white markings around the eyes and on the cheeks and jaws, the rest of the animals face was black. The preserved Red forest hog that her son had placed down at the end of his bed had very recognisable humps on both sides of its snout and it also had two small, sharp tusks. There was a preserved Klipspringer beside the Red forest hog, Hazaar had captured four of the twenty-two inches animals, one of the smallest species of antelope species in Africa, one day when they had been living in Africa, the animal that he had gotten preserved, stuffed and mounted on a piece of bark wood was of the female gender. The preserved Klipspringer had thick, speckled "salt and peppered" coat of an almost olive shade, she also had four-inch horns on her head.

The preserved animal that was across the room beside the dresser was probably her son's favorite. On the last week of their being in Africa he had gone out to look for a herd of Impala, instead of finding a herd of Impala he had happened on a lone Brown hyena that had been injured in the back, left leg. He had thrown a ground spear at the animal then he had run off, the Hyena might have been injured but it still had had a lot of fight left in it. From what her son had told her, the Hyena had actually jumped on him after chasing him for a hundred feet. Hazaar had offed the animal by thrusting his hunting knife into it's chest. The preserved Brown hyena was fifty-five inches in both head and body length, it had long and shaggy hair that was a combination of brown, dark brown and gray, the hair on the neck and back was twelve inches long.

"I see you have your posters and signs up," Angel said.

"The big, aluminum one gave me grief when I was putting it up." Hazaar said back. "It kept coming undone from the wall while I was putting it up."

There was a poster that had all sorts of spaceships on it that had been sent up in space thousands of years before tacked up on the wall above the headboard of her thirdborn son's bed, the poster beside it was similar in design only it had fictional spaceships on it like the Millenium Falcon, the Tardis and the Voyager. The poster that she had gotten for him as a late-birthday present had been nailed up on the wall across from the right side of Hazaar's bed, it was of Eliza Gonzalez from the tv series From Dusk Til Dawn that had run from March 2014 to the early part of 2017. Miss. Gonzalez was wearing a right showy, brown bikini and she had a necklace around her neck. The image of Miss. Gonzalez that had been used in the poster was a still from the show, the woman was covered in blood, her vampire fangs could be seen because her mouth was open in a snarl. Like Bile, Hazaar had taped all of his posters to some poster-cut cardboard pieces so they'd stay straight on the walls that they were put up on.

The aluminum sign that had been screwed into the door that faced the inside of the room said _You are being monitored _on it, it had two stick figures chasing each other just above the saying, the figure in the back had a computer monitor held up high. The large aluminum sign that her son had said had given him problems was on the wall right beside the left side of the door. It had a cartoon baby on it that had a full diaper, the caption on the sign said that _A boss is like a diaper... Always on your ass, and usually full of_, there was a little arrow right behind the word _of _pointing at the full diaper of the cartoon baby that was on the sign. The aluminum sign beside that one had been made up like a comic, there were three kids sitting on a bench in front of an office that had the word Principal on the glass of the door, all three of the kids that were on the sign had gotten into some sort of trouble to be sent off to the principals office. The quote above the grumpy, blonde haired girl character that had a bow in her hair said _I said the "S-H" word _while the quote above the grumpy, hipster-like boy character said _I said the "F" word_. There was a nervous, skinny kid beside the hipster-like character that had a quote above him saying _I said "Christmas". _

There was a poster nailed to the door of her son's closet that had two trains on it, the two trains that were in the poster were heading for a head-on collision. The last item that Angel took in was the synthetic, charcoal gray colored shag rug that was on floor right beside his bed. She had been pretty surprised when Hazaar had told her that he had found it in one of Boulder, Colorado's dumps, the rug was still in fine shape and it looked to be worth quite a lot of money, why someone would throw away a perfectly good rug was beyond her.

"I'm surprised you haven't gone out to buy any models yet, Hazie." Angel said.

"I have two in the closet," Hazaar said. "I can't do them yet, I need to get the brushes and the glue and paints before I can."

"You can remember to get beads, feathers and a metal rod to do your hair with but you can't remember brushes, paints and model glue?"

"I keep forgetting." Hazaar looked down in shame.

"Well, the next time you head out on the t-..." Angel stopped short when she saw the ceramic ashtray that her son had just slid under his pillows. She had only to see that ashtray to know that her son had been smoking in the house and that just infuriated her. "What did I tell you three nights ago, Hazaar? I said no smoking and I meant it!"

Even if she wasn't a cool mom, even if she didn't let them smoke their smokes or read their dirty magazines or go out to hunt or fish or even to walk about unsupervised in the towns or cities that were safely behind the shields they'd all still feel that same love for her. The love that was so scary and that had no definition to it, that love that made them in some ways mama's boys and that love that made them see their mother in much higher version of what the humans saw her. Three nights ago he, Lhaklar and Guyunis had decided to go see Bile in his room, the fact that he had been run out of a store in Amsterdam and that the woman who had run him out had kicked him in the ass twice then had had the nerve to slap him in the face afterwards had been kept from them all by their mother, Bile and Guyunis had been a sort of shock to him, Lhaklar and Lazeer and he and Lhaklar had wanted to help Bile in feeling better so the idea of going to have a private smoke in Bile's bedroom had been brought up. He, Lhaklar and Guyunis - Lazeer had been too busy working on his map of the area to go across the hall for an hour or two to cheer Bile up so Guyunis had gladly taken his place, had grabbed their black ceramic ashtrays that they had found at one of Boulder, Colorado's many dumps then they had made the trek over to see their brother.

Bile had enjoyed the company, they had smoked around three cigarettes and then a joint each before their mother had come upstairs. She had only had to smell the air that was on the second level of the house to know that they were smoking, she had demanded that they all come out from Bile's room and they had. A twenty-minute lecture on why she didn't want them smoking in the house had happened after they had come out from Bile's room, they had all been looking down at their feet the entire time. Their mother didn't want them to stain the walls in the house with their cigarette smoke and she didn't want them to make anything in the house start smelling of smoke and she didn't want the house to go up in flames because one of them fell asleep while smoking, they could smoke but only outside, smoking was absolutely off-limits inside the house and, sadly, he had just been caught breaking one of her rules. He had smoked two Marlboro's while listening to some tunes on the killer stereo system that his momma had got for him as a late-birthday present then he had grabbed his August edition of Playboy, he had just opened the magazine when his mother had walked into his room. He had tried to hide the ashtray, after she had walked into his room he had pulled his legs up to hide it then when she had started to engage in a conversation with him he had tried to pull a fast one by slyly slipping the black ceramic ashtray under his pillows. His momma, like all mommas, had good eyes and a good nose on her so even as he had reached his hand back to slide the ceramic ashtray under the pillows he had known that she would notice it. There was no way in hell that he'd shoo his momma from his bedroom, not only was that rude and not only would that make her think that something was up but that might also hurt her feelings and he didn't want to do that. He loved his momma, she was his whole life, he didn't want her feelings hurt.

"Do you want me to say that none of you can smoke? Are you trying to piss me off young man?" his mother was asking him.

"Uh uh," Hazaar shook his head. "I f-forgot... I'm sorry, I only smoked two c-..."

"It doesn't matter how many you smoke inside, smoking causes stains in the walls and ceiling and it will cause problems later on with the AC and the electrical appliances. You want that to happen? You want this place to start smelling of smoke?"

"No,"

"This is strike two, one more and not only are you grounded but none of you will be allowed to smoke anymore." his mother gave him that I'm Serious look, he swallowed then he nodded his head, he mumbled his apology again then he got up. He took the ceramic ashtray over to his mother who took it from him. She left his room with it, since she heard no music coming from Guyunis's room she decided to just plain go to her room and take a much needed nap, the headache that she had been experiencing for the past ten minutes was really starting to hurt her now.


	10. Chapter 10

_Caribbean Bound - Thousands Flee After Shields Removed from the Americas_

_Many are wondering if the ancient one in the Americas has finally lost his interest in our sleepy little planet as, two days ago, the shields that Angel Irene, our planet's heroine, put up over two thousand years ago were dropped by the feared alien that has been in control of the North and South American continents for over two months. Right after the shields were dropped thousands of Floridians, Texans, Louisianans, Alabamians and Mississippians raced for the beaches and then madly swam for boats that had waiting for them for almost a week in water that sharks, Jellyfish and all other manner of ocean life reside in. Many of the swimmers that reached the awaiting boats claim they ran right past Master Vile, the alien being that claims ownership of our sleepy, little planet, and he didn't do anything to stop them in either reaching the beaches or swimming out to the awaiting boats. _

_"He just stood there, after he downed the shields and we started running for the beaches he just stood back and watched." Corey Taylor, a Florida resident who swam to a boat that had been a hundred yards away from shore. _

_"He laughed as we ran for the boats, it was sick! The man sickens me, he actually taunted my young five year old daughter to hurry up before the sand monsters come nipping." Sally Mueller, another Florida resident who ran past the evil warlock with her family to the safety of the beaches and then the open ocean said._

_On estimate, over three thousand civilians from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were rescued by boat them taken to the Caribbean islands, when the boats returned after unloading their frightened passengers they found that a ring of green energy had been made around the coastlines. Hundreds of people were behind the energy ring, all trying to reach the beaches but all being barred by monsters of lizard or goat-like form. Master Vile was said to not be in the area after the boats returned for a second attempt in helping escapees get away from the Americas, after an hour's worth of waiting to see if the green energy ring would be dropped the captains of the boats had no choice but to turn back and head for home. The question on why Master Vile, the evil warlock and warlord who happened on a way into the shields that were formerly keeping civilians safe in the Americas, let over a thousand people reach the safety of the Caribbean islands is still not answered. The three thousand, three hundred and ninety-three people who reached the safety of Cuba and the Bahamas have been helped into modest hotel rooms._

The paper that had just been read was dropped from eye-level then it was thrown onto a brown table that had seen better days. It fell on a heap of other newspapers, all from the Caribbean and from the American continents, all them papers had some sort of article in them about the three thousand, three hundred and ninety-three people who had reached the safety of the island nations of Cuba and the Bahamas, the reader had read through each one then he had tossed the paper onto the dilapidated brown table like he had just done with the newspaper that he had just gotten through reading. A black coffee cup that had gothic designs along its rim was just inches away from the pile of newspapers, it had a brew in it that no one human would dare drink. A steam rose up from the cup that was near dark green, it was putrid but the being that was seated in front of the dilapidated table acted like the smell was nothing to him. In one swoop of his large hand, the being grabbed the cup from the table by its handle. The being slurped the gooey, nauseating contents that was in the cup noisily before throwing his head back, he drank all of the rest of the gooey, nauseating drink that was his coffee in one swallow before placing the cup back down on its matching coaster.

"Is that all the known papers that were published in the past twenty-four hours?" the being asked his servant who was standing behind him.

"Yessir, all that were found in the bins." the servant, a creature that looked to be a cross between a Scottish Terrier and a Rat that had brown fur that was going gray around the edges of his muzzle and around his eyes, replied quickly.

"For the past week I have noticed something very odd with all these papers," the being made no movement, he simply sat in the black wicker chair that had a cream and black striped pillow on its seat. "them papers from the past twenty-four hours just gave me the clue to that oddity."

The being that was his employer stood up from the chair, he stood tall, his full height of six-foot, five inches made Lynster Purlachi, a Claydo from the very distant planet of Claydoious who stood just five feet tall, look downright puny in comparison. Lynster Purlachi's hands were behind his back, he was wringing the bands of the white apron that he had tied around his waist that early morning tightly in both fear and nervousness. The past forty-eight hours had not been pleasant for him, or for the four co-workers that had been ordered to teleport to the planet after their employer had found a way into the shields. Vile Vile, who demanded that all beings outside of his family call him Master Vile, had happened on this area forty-eight hours ago while out on one of his beach runs, he had seen the secluded little bungalow twice while on his run and he had decided that he needed a change in scenery. The secluded little bungalow had had a For Sale sign in front of it, his employer had ripped it up then he had walked into the building to give it a once-over before deciding to move in.

It was a real dinky shack, Lynster was surprised that his employer would choose such a place to reside temporarily in while he further fixed the government up on the half of the planet that he had been able to reach after finding a way into the shields that his own daughter been put up over two thousand years ago. He guessed that it was better than that bigger building that his employer, he and his four co-workers had resided in for two months, one week and five days, the building that they had all taken up residence in two months, one week and five days ago had been right big but very brightly decorated, his employer had constantly been complaining about the design and decoration of the building, he had said that it was too white and bright and cheery which it was. Lynster thought that the place that they had moved to forty-eight hours ago was a little bit better, he hated the fact that the sand that was under his brown, gladiator-like sandals was so pristine white but the sky above made things a bit better, the sky above was very gray and it had plenty of dark gray clouds drifting about in it. The ocean that was a hundred yards away was very choppy, the spray that came up onto the beach from the waves was white while the water beyond the waves was blue-gray, he liked that too, he preferred a choppy ocean to a very blue, peaceful ocean that had a occassional wave to it.

The bungalow that his employer had moved into was surrounded on three sides by tall palm trees, the black wicker chair that had the black and cream cushion in its seat that his employer had just gotten up from and the brown, dilapidated table had been placed underneath one of the trees, those two items had been brought in from his employer's palace home on Gamma-Vile, he had specifically ordered that they be brought and placed right by the building under one of the palm trees. There was no porch to the building, the sand just rolled up to the front door, the building had no living room or even a bathroom in it, it just had a single, basic kitchen and one bedroom that took up much of the space in the building. There were four windows on the residence, two in the kitchen that were open and two in the one bedroom that were also open. The large bed that had been in the residence after his employer had gone in to check it out had a canopy around it which his employer had kept up, the residence had a small, mahogany, three drawer dresser in the one bedroom that his employer was also using. The small kitchen had a double burner hot plate and a small refrigerator in it, it also had three cabinets in it that were pretty well-stocked at the moment with his employers favorite eats.

Lynster had wondered why his employer had kept the ugly canopy over the bed after he had made the bed after his employer had gotten up the morning before, his employer had never really been one for bed canopy's and this one particular canopy was of thin material and it was white. He had not dared to open his mouth to ask his employer why he had kept the canopy, he had just stood in front of the bungalow after he had made the bed, Glog Esftu, the chef that his employer had ordered to come to the planet two months, one week and five days ago, had made their employer's breakfast then he had stepped out. While their employer had eaten his breakfast inside the bungalow in comfort they had taken a little walk around the building, the reason of why that canopy had been kept up had been answered quickly during that walk. That canopy was no normal canopy, it was a mosquito canopy made for keeping the mosquitos away when one was sleeping, their employer had kept it up because of the swampy area that was behind the bungalow. Behind the bungalow, nestled in-between all the swamp's trees there was quicksand, puddles of multi-green water and spider webs galore. Lynster was glad that his employer had kept that mosquito canopy up now, he was sure that his employer would not be waking up in the best of moods if he found his body riddled with the telltale marks of the mosquitos.

"Those were all the papers you found in the bins?" Lynster snapped to with his employer's words, he swallowed hard then he nodded his head.

Master Vile, Lynster knew, wasn't one who went completely crazy with newspaper reading, he typically only went crazy with reading newspapers after he had completed a planetary or galactic conquering and boy had he been reading a lot of Earth-made newspapers in the past two and a half months. He was keeping up with the news, which Lynster knew was very wise as a conqueror did need to know what was going on, a newspaper gave clues to what could possibly happen later on in the day or week and Master Vile needed to know this information before it happened. He had already taken care of a hundred riots and he had actually flunked and then had fined all of the civilians of the American continents when they had all refused to take his test. Lynster and Glog had actually gone all over the American continents collecting that mornings newspapers from the bins, they had brought back around a hundred newspapers. Lynster had an idea of what was missing in the papers, he had done a little light reading of the papers the last few weeks and, from what he could tell, they all seemed to not be as thick as they should be and that was pretty odd.

"There are articles in them papers from Cuba and the Bahamas, island nations that I am not able to reach or get into because of the shields that are around them, but there is no say from the nations overseas." Master Vile said. "No opinionated articles from Europe and my daughter did not show up either. There has been no news even on the screens about Europe in near two weeks, that is very odd but my daughter not showing up to assist the humans that I allowed to escape to the island nations in the Caribbean is even more odd."

Although Lynster didn't know how newspapers worked on the planet that he was on he did know that, all around in the universe, the papers on different planets were running articles each day of how his employer was doing in his conquest of the Americas. Even if the article was a small one or one that had been recycled, the papers on each planet in each galaxy in the universe had an article in them each day about his employer's conquest and doings on Earth. Why, on this planet, it was just the Caribbean islands and the Americas publishing articles on his employer's doings was beyond him, he did think that it was a bit odd that there was no word or concern coming from Europe though. The papers that had circulated around the universe two and a half months ago had only had half the truth in them about his employer's conquest of the Americas, his employer had lied about how he had happened to get into the shields. He had hired a Goblin straight out of Staffer's Academy on the planet Moas four months ago, had let that Goblin settle into the game of working for him then he had ordered said Goblin to go make an opening in the shield that was over North America. The Goblin had done so, he had made a small opening big enough only for Master Vile to enter into, the Goblin had thought that he had done a good job and that he'd be rewarded soon for what he had done... instead he had found himself being fired right after he had made the opening in the side of the shield. The Goblin had gone straight to his species' government, had reported Master Vile then he had sat back and waited, Lynster knew that the council member that had come to investigate his employer had been sent away screaming and bleeding at the temples, Lynster also knew that the Goblin that had made the conquest of the Americas happen had disappeared soon after. There had been an article in one of the major Moas newspapers about the guy being missing about six weeks ago, Lynster had a feeling that his employer was the one responsible for the Goblin's being missing. Master Vile was above the law in the M-51 Galaxy, if anyone reported him to the law nothing would happen and the reason for that was because he was the ruler of that galaxy. He could do anything he wanted, he could get anything he wanted for free and he could also get away with things a normal, non-ruling, civilian couldn't. Lynster knew that his employer had never paid a utility bill since his taking over of the M-51 Galaxy, the galaxy where he had actually been born and raised in and the galaxy where all of his family had also been born and raised in, Lynster also knew that his employer had actually paid a small fraction of what several of the vehicles he owned cost when he had purchased them. No one could do a thing if his employer had anything to do with that Goblin's disappearance.

The papers of the universe did not run that story in their articles about his employer's conquest of the Americas two and a half months ago, they had just said that his employer had seen a truck drive out from an opening in the wall of one of the shields in the western part of the United States when he had been out walking one of the mountain trails that had been outside of the shields that his daughter had put up over two thousand years before. The articles in the newspapers had included a short interview from his employer that had said that after he had seen that a spell had been performed on the opening that the truck had come out of to mask it from being seen he had taken a walk to see what was ahead of the opening, his employer had falsely claimed that his walk had brought him inside the shield and that, after he had realized that there was a way into the shields he had hot-footed back down the tunnel then had teleported back to his home on Gamma-Vile to gather his troops. The papers all around the universe had run that story, there had been no questions asked, it had just been accepted and run. Lynster figured that the Americas being conquered by his employer would be a big thing in the papers and on the news all around and yet it was only articles from the Americas, and recently the island nations in the Caribbean.

"That light-haired woman ever do what I requested of her to do?"

"Not that I know of, sir." Lynster replied quickly.

"Bring her to me at once!"

Master Vile ran his hand down the front of his black robe then he walked off towards the bungalow that he had slept in and had taken in meals in for the past two days, when he had happened on the large, white building that the humans called the White House he had found a staff of only seven hiding in one of the back rooms. Most of the seven humans that had been in the building had been male but there had been one female in the bunch that he had had his fun with from time to time in the past four months, the woman claimed that she was the Secretary of the Press and that she was the only one of the former head of government's high ranked official staff remaining in the building. He had no idea what a Secretary of the Press was but he figured that the woman had something to do with filing newspapers in the archives room that was in the White House, the woman had claimed two days ago that she was not in control of what went out in the papers outside of the government's administration and she also claimed that she could not, and would not, help him in finding newspapers that had been published from the latter part of January to August the 12th. He had quickly changed her tune on the could not and would not by dishing out a few slaps and a promise that if she refused to do as he told her she'd be having a good session in one of the building's beds with him. She had started shivering and shaking all over then she had nodded her head before running off, he was sort of glad that she had done so as he was getting rather tired of having the woman underneath him and he didn't much like the idea of cheating either. He was a married man, he had married his own youngest daughter - by forced consummation, that was, two thousand, two hundred and one years ago and he had fathered a son by her, he had no feelings with the woman that he had been bedding for four months and he never would have any feelings for that light-haired woman who claimed that she was the Secretary of the Press.

He didn't open the door to go into the one room bungalow that he had taken his meals in and had slept in for two, straight, days. Master Vile walked around to one of the small kitchen's open windows then, just as Lynster teleported out to do as he had ordered him to do, he lifted one of his long legs up then he swung it over the frame of the open window, the other leg followed quickly afterwards. He edged his body around the black stone pedestal table that he had ordered to be placed in the center of the small kitchen that was in the bungalow then he walked over the black wooden chair that he had also ordered to be placed in the bungalow's small kitchen, after he had walked through that small obstacle course he went directly to the building's small bedroom, which was the only other room in the building except for the kitchen. After he had walked in through the open doorway he went directly to the bed, he knelt down then reached under the bed. He had slid a gray stone box under the bed that he had kept several newspaper articles in including one that he had found in the main office of the White House six and a half months ago. After he had grabbed the box he pulled it out from under the bed, he stood up then turned around, he walked out of the room then sat down in the black wooden chair. He placed the gray stone box on the pedestal table's surface then he opened it.

The articles that met his eyes were all from the past six and a half months but they were not articles written up on his conquest of the Americas on Earth. He had started clipping articles out of the papers about his youngest daughter's new escape from his family's grasp, she had resided with all four of her sons in his uncle's mansion home on Moas for three months then she and they had disappeared again. His uncle had woke everyone up very early on January the 28th, the darkness of the night had not even started to lighten up when he had started yelling for everyone to get out of bed. No questions had been allowed to be asked, his uncle had simply said in a very stern voice that everyone, from adult to child to staff member, was to head down to the dining room and that they were all to stay there until he came down. He had only had time to grab a bathrobe to throw around his body and a pair of slippers to put on his bare feet before one of his uncle's guards had come up the stairs to hurry everyone on the floor level that he had been on up getting down the stairs. Everyone had been wondering what was going on in that dining room, it had been right cramped in that dining room for all of an hour before his uncle had come down, he had had a feeling that she was missing but there had been a small part of him that had hoped that she, or one of her kids, had just fallen ill or something but, sadly, that small part of him had found itself disappointed. Angel, his youngest daughter, had been discovered missing along with all four of her sons by his uncle after he had gotten up to use the toilet.

His uncle claimed that he had felt odd after waking up, the urge to take a leak had been normal but he had claimed that he had felt only half there. Uncle Tazir claimed he had checked all throughout his mansion for Angel and her sons and, when he had found none of them in their chambers or in any other parts of the house he had freaked. He had interviewed everyone that had been in contact with Angel and her sons, including his own daughter, Eshal, then he had told everyone that had been related to him to pack up and go home. The only piece of information that his uncle had gotten about Angel was from Shaam, his great-grandfather. Shaam had said that Angel had seemed normal all the evening before they had all gone to bed, the only thing abnormal that she had done was ask him what he'd do if he found out that he had an illegitimate child. Angel and her four sons had acted fine the rest of the evening, none of them had shown any signs of wanting to leave at all. He and everyone else had not heard a thing from his uncle for a week after they had packed up their things and had left his place and then the papers had started rolling out their stories on how his uncle was practically turning Moas upside down in his search for Angel and her sons and about how Cheshire Ubalki, his uncle's stepfather, and one of his sons, Efagti Ubalki, had been arrested on Zeta Ren after they had started searching that planet for Angel and her sons. The male members of his family had joined in on the searching soon after, he had joined in on it for a few months before he had decided to do an attempt in gaining a way into the shields that his daughter had put up over the majority of the planet Earth.

He had decided to hire an employee that he normally wouldn't consider employing, he had waited until that years graduate class of Staffer's Academy students had walked down the aisle then he had simply walked up to the first Goblin that he had seen. A little lie here, a little lie there, a promise of a good salary and benefits and he had knabbed himself a new employee that he knew could get into the shields that were on Earth. He had let his new employee settle into the groove of working for him then he had given him the simple task of making a portion of the shield drop so he could go in, he had told the Goblin that he'd increase his pay for his doing the task and he had also told the Goblin that his work's benefits would increase as well. The Goblin had done his task well, why he had not thought about employing a Goblin, a species that could get into anything - which included shields, the Goblin species could get into any shield regardless of its strength and regardless of it having back-ups or triples or quadruples behind the original shield, they were a very sneaky and powerful species in the universe, before was beyond him but he had done it and then after the Goblin's task had been completed he had effectively handed him the pink slip that had said that the Goblin was fired. He had conquered the Americas with no problem afterwards then he had found himself having to deal with an investigation that had been fronted by one of the high staff of the Goblin species' government. He had sent the Goblin investigator running after he had zapped him twice with a high-powered white beam of energy then he had taken care of his former employee before heading back to work on the new government of the Americas. No one else had bothered him from the Goblin species' government, his family had pretty much left him alone - except for his mother and father, that was. His mother and father were constantly on his ass about his not helping in finding Angel and her sons, they thought he had decided to abandon Angel and his only son by her which was not true. Besides the deep, inner feeling that he had that told him that she was on the planet he had also been told by several of his soldiers that she had had fought them in Colorado. If what his soldiers had told him was true, if she was on the planet then he had a chance to not only capture her and Bile and take them home to his palace on Gamma-Vile but he also had a chance to off the three ill-spore sons that his daughter-mate had produced with his uncle. He knew that Angel would, naturally, give him a fight over protecting the three ill-spore sons that she had given birth to but he was sure that, in time, she'd forget all about them after she had produced three others to replace them. The task at the moment for him was not only to keep the humans in the Americas under his firm control but also to find where his daughter was.

"Get your hands off me!" the gray stone box slowly closed as its owner heard the voice of the woman that he had ordered his servant retrieve and then bring to him. He had just latched the lock when the door to the bungalow opened and a blue-eyed, light blonde haired woman wearing a sapphire blue dress and matching heels was shoved in. The door was closed soon after the woman was shoved into the bungalow.

If she had been told two and a half months ago that the United States administrative government would fall to the monster that was seated in front of her she would have done more than tell Horace Smith, the former head of the administrative government of the United States, she would have run for her life. She had earned her degree in Political Science after spending four years in Rice University and then she had spent a further five years at that school to earn her Master's degree before looking for work. It had been right difficult at first, no one had wanted to run the risk of having someone so new out of college as their second-hand person but then, after two years of unemployment she had found Ray Louis Hemingway, the man who would go on to become one of Adam Victor Williams's senior officials. She had been the principle deputy press secretary for the man for three and a half years then she had found herself being appointed as the new Secretary of the Press after the man had suggested that Adam Victor Williams, the man who had been president before Horace Smith had won the presidency a year and a half ago. She had been Mr. Williams' Press Secretary for a year then, after he had lost his second-term attempt to Horace Smith, she had found herself being Horace Smith's Press Secretary. Mr. Smith was a good man, a respectable, responsible and professionally drive man, she could see why the people of North America had wanted him to be their president because he also had everyone's interests deep within his heart, he was a very down to Earth type of man who'd practically give the shirt that he had put on after he had gotten up to someone who needed it more.

Things had gone well in the White House, everything had gone according to protocol until May the 9th, the evil man that was seated in front of her in a chair that looked much too small for him had found a way into the shields that protected the civilians of the Americas, he had invaded North and South America, had sicked his army of monsters on the military that had been sent out to stop his invasion. He had won the Americas, it had pretty much been a walk-over for him. When Horace Smith had found out that the monster was nearing the capital he had ordered all of his staff to get into the helicopters, Code Red had been issued out and, instead of everyone acting in a non-panic way in evacuating the White House there had been mass panic and hysteria. Horace Smith and a majority of his official staff had gotten away safely but, sadly, there had been some folk left behind. She had no clue as to what the president was doing, she knew where he was but she would not let that piece of information get out of her, she also had no clue as to where Angel Irene or her sons were. She and George Davis, the Executive Chef who was responsible for planning, managing and preparing all the menus and meals for the First Family, had been left behind along with five butlers, two of whom had been injured after the order had been given to evacuate the White House. She, George Davis and them five butlers had tried hiding in one of the White House's back rooms after Master Vile had entered the building but, alas, he had found them. The man had given the order that they be taken to a room and locked in after he had found them then he had gone on to the Oval office.

The man had combined the Dakotas, the Carolinas and he had also combined West Virginia with the state of Virginia, he had dropped all toll roads in them states then he had ordered that new toll roads be put up in them states. He had joined Canada up with the United States, had combined all of the northern states into one, big state then he had set down to changing the government. Statues of the hideous man had been built all over the Americas, three Master Vile museums had been built in the Americas and he had also ordered that several communities in South America be abandoned - he had sent his lizard and goat-like army out to do the latter as no one in the communities that he had ordered to be abandoned were complying with his orders, there had been a lot of death and destruction near the forested parts of South America. While he had been doing all that he had been terrorizing her, George Davis and the butlers that had been left behind when the order had been given to evacuate the White House. He had ordered one of his staff to take the two, injured butlers out of the building then he had started cranking out orders to her, George Davis and the five remaining butlers, she had no idea where the two injured butlers had been taken and neither did the others that had to endure their new employer's constant, day in and day out abuse.

"What?" Caroline Louise Roberts said after being thrown into the bungalow.

"What my ass, I told you to do something two days ago. You do it or did you slack off like you usually do?" Master Vile growled.

"I am the Secretary of the Press, I am not a librarian." Caroline Roberts said.

Wrong answer, Caroline screamed then spun around once after Master Vile had shot his hand forward. His large hand had assaulted the left side of her face, which was already covered in a melody of bruises and cuts from other abuses that he had given out to her. Caroline stood in place against the cover of the bungalow, she shivered slightly as Master Vile stood from the chair that he had been sitting in. Jeez, she couldn't believe how disturbingly handsome yet impossibly ugly he was! He stood an impossible six-foot, five inches tall and was between two hundred and fifty and two hundred and seventy-five pounds with not an ounce of that being fat. His ears were elongated, they were gold in color and they had black, Tiger-like stripes on them, there were six gold earrings hanging down from each ear. The man's face was smooth and human-like in appearance, his lips were thin. His nose was thin, it pointed down sharply. The eyes that were in the face were a glowing golden-yellow color, they had small, black pupils in their centers. Caroline had only to look at them glowing, golden-yellow eyes to know that the man was smart, them eyes held quite a lot of intelligence and experience in them. The man's brow was thick, it seem much too thick for the face that it was apart of. The man's entire body was bi-colored with the left half being a golden color while the right was a dark blue color.

Master Vile, the man who had made her former employer give out the order to evacuate the White House, was wearing a long, black robe that had a cape on the back that attached to a pair of dark blue shoulder wraps that had a single snake head on the inner edges. Caroline only had to look to see that the snake heads were not a simple adornment to the man's outfit, they were alive, they either nudged up against or nipped at the man's chin in affection every few seconds. There was a blue scarf around the man's neck, her new employer also had two kerchiefs of thick fabric hanging below it, one was dull red and the other was dull gold in color. Underneath that robe, Caroline knew, was a pair of black pants, she also knew that the man had a pair of black shoes, that had been given a heavy polishing, on his feet. Master Vile had a pair of gold-colored gloves on his hands that went back to his elbows, his long, blue fingernails poked out of the holes at the end of each finger of the gloves. Her new, terrible, terrifying employer was wearing a pair of blue-tinted glasses over his eyes that he wore only to bring a coolness to his image. Caroline personally thought that the blue-tinted glasses were silly, she wished she could wipe them off the man's face but she knew that if she did she'd be getting much worse than a face slap. Caroline Louise Roberts swallowed once then she backed up a little, she was now standing with her back leaning heavily against the wall of the kitchen.

"Borshu baktru negrai!" Master Vile spat in a language that Caroline didn't understand. "You humans never do as you're told! I gave you a simple command to find and bring me any and all newspapers from the past six and a half months and you couldn't do that!"

Caroline stayed quiet, she was terrified at the moment and the reason was very clear. Master Vile had sliced his left hand down the center of his robe then he had thrown his arms back. His robe, the cape and the shoulder wraps that the cape was attached to fluttered to the floor in almost slow motion, she didn't really see his thrown clothing fall to the ground, she was staring in shock at what his body looked like. She had been raised a Catholic since birth, she had read the stories in the bible, had gone to church every Wednesday and Sunday, and she had also joined groups within the church during her school career. She didn't curse or do parties, she knew what was good and what was bad and she also knew the basic principle what a living thing needed to continue living on and Master Vile was lacking in one of them areas.

He had a heart and lungs, three things that any life form needed to be considered living. He had a good muscle mass on him and his bone structure was good but the thing was, the entire right side of his body was skeletal in appearance. The left side of his body was pretty thick in muscle, he had a very impressively large and well muscled chest, the six-pack that he had on that side of his body was very tight and the arm that was also on that side of his body was very thick in muscle. The right side of his body had no muscle on it showing but she knew from experience that it was strong in invisible muscle. His waist was slender, it tapered down in a V-shape. The leg on the left side of his body had good muscle to it while the leg on the right side of his body was skeletal and looked to have no muscle on it, he had a humanoid left foot while his right foot was skeletal. Caroline shivered violently, the only reason why she knew all this information about the man was because, sadly, he had forced her to sleep with him. He had called her a sort of teaser, a getting-ready lady or a warmer-upper, some poor woman that warmed a man up for the big event which was his bedding his wife or spouse. Caroline crossed her arms over her chest, she placed her hands on her shoulders, when she did she mentally saw the puncture marks that had been put all along her shoulders. She had puncture marks on her shoulders, on the lower part of her neck and on her breasts and vagina and she had the evil man in front of her to thank for all of them. He was a monster in the bed, she could see why Angel Irene didn't want anything to do with the man. Beside the man being her father, he was a bruiser in the sack. He bit and scratched when he had sex and he also had a way of ramming himself hard into a woman. With her knowing all this about the man she was for sure not going to help him find the whereabouts of his daughter - she had a feeling that that was why he had ordered her to look for and bring him the newspapers that had been put out in the last six and a half months. Angel Irene may be near alien in genetic make-up but she for sure acted human and she for sure had won the hearts of many by her protecting everyone from her evil father.

"What is it that you're trying to hide from me?" Master Vile walked over to Caroline, he stood within half an inch of her. "If it's my daughter, I already know she's somewhere on this planet."

"How in blue blazes do you know that?!" Caroline hid the gasp, up to then she had thought that he had no clue as to where his daughter was.

"You think anything that happens out in the battlefield isn't relayed to me? I am very aware that she fought with several of my troops in Colorado." Master Vile drew himself in closer, Caroline struggled to not gag, although he had bathed and did have a clean smell on him his breath was horrible.

"She and her sons haven't been seen for two and a half months," Caroline clamped her mouth shut after spitting that bit of information out.

"Mhmmm, and surely there'd be some sort of article pop up in a newspaper somewhere about her." Master Vile turned then walked off. "She was missing on this planet from the middle part of November to January the twenty-eighth, since she is such a high and mighty importance to you humans I am very sure that there were articles in the papers about her being missing and I am also very sure that some sort of articles were written up between January the twenty-eighth and the month of May about her." MasterVile turned around, he gave Caroline a deep, hard stare before going on. "I am not as stupid as you think I am, I know she is somewhere on this planet. Them four sons of hers are probably also with her, three of whom are of no real importance to either her or me. I need to know where they are so I can-..."

"You won't learn anything of that sort from me, I have no idea where they are." Caroline interrupted Master Vile, she stepped away from the wall of the kitchen that she had stood against. She made her hands ball up into fists as she spoke the rest of what she had to say. "Even if I did I wouldn't tell someone so cruel, evil and heartless as you."

"That so, let's see how you like being ganged up on then." Master Vile's face suddenly lit up as the evil smile spread across it, his thin lips rose to expose the fangs that were on both the man's top and lower teeth. "Rourke! Get your ass in here!"

Caroline suddenly felt the courage that had so suddenly filled her body evaporate with the mere mention of the name that her evil employer had just said. Rourke, that was one of the five members of her new employer's staff that she just plain hated. The goat-man was cruel, maybe not as cruel as Master Vile but he enjoyed hurting others and he also enjoyed showing off the muscle that he had on his body while he hurt the ones that he had been given to hurt. Caroline backed up against the wall then she started to crouch down, she had just completed her crouch when the door to the bungalow opened. A tall, muscular, gray furred goat-like being that had blue-black eyes walked into the small kitchen, he had to bend down some in order to enter the bungalow because the horns that were on the top of his head were right tall, they spiraled up about thirty-six inches and were a black color. The goat-like being was wearing an imperial red uniform, he had hooves for hands, he had black shoes on feet that looked normal and human-like. His goat-like ears flicked in her direction once then they stopped moving, after he had entered the bungalow he stopped.

"How horny are you, Nygiti and Galong this morning?" Master Vile asked the goat-man.

"Most honorable, evil Vile," the goat-man said. "we three are holding but only just."

"You three may do as you wish with the human female that is in this room." Master Vile said, the goat-man turned to look at Caroline. "I need information from her that she refuses to spill and since she refuses to relay what she knows to me she is to be punished, you, Nygiti and Galong are free to do whatever you three wish to do with her."

"My master, I, Nygiti and Galong appreciate this treat." Rourke replied with a bow. Master Vile nodded his head then he looked over at Caroline, who was now on her knees, shaking in fear. The corner of Master Vile's mouth curled up then he turned and left the room, he began to laugh after he heard Caroline's single scream after Rourke went to grab her up from the floor.


	11. Chapter 11

Master Vile wasn't the only one that read the article that mentioned the three thousand, three hundred and ninety-three people who had reached the safety of Cuba and the Bahamas in the Caribbean, Angel and her sons had read that same article in the local Elchesheim-Illingen newspaper so many times on the morning of August the 14th that it was permanently burned into their memory banks. Angel was glad that so many had reached the safe islands of Cuba and the Bahamas but she was mystified over why her father would allow so many to flee, it seemed like something that he would just not let happen and yet he had allowed for it to happen. The shields were all down in the Americas, the only thing keeping more civilians on those continents from escaping was a green, electrified, strand, Master Vile had put that up to prevent further escapes and it was doing its job almost too well. There were reports on the news that claimed that over a hundred people in the Americas were being admitted to hospitals for burns that they had received after they had touched the green, electrified strand, either on purpose in an attempt to escape or accidentally.

It was not by fear of Master Vile's finding them that kept them indoors for the two days that followed, it rained pretty heavily on the 15th and then it tapered off to a consistent drizzle for most of the 16th, at 2:35 am the storm system that had brought the two-day rainy period moved off, when they woke up on the morning of the 17th of August it was sunny out and the weather forecast said that it'd be hot and humid with no rain in sight. Bile and his brothers ate a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage, they were all excited in finally being able to leave the house, all of them could hardly sit still at the table. After they finished their breakfast they did their usual, they took their dishes to the kitchen sink for a quick washing before putting them on the side of the sink that was reserved for the dishes that needed to be fully cleaned. After they gave the dishes that they had used a quick cleaning they set off for their rooms upstairs for their wallets, they had just retrieved their wallets when their mother asked them to please go to the living room and wait for her. She had made them their breakfast while wearing a dark purple cotton robe that had a purple cotton nightgown underneath it, she had overslept that morning. As she got dressed, Guyunis, Hazaar and Lazeer took a seat on the red faux sectional couch while Bile sat in the red modern chair, Lhaklar leaned against the gas-powered fireplace.

"What're your plans for today, Bile?" Lhaklar asked.

"Probably go down to the dump, check things out. See if there's anything good enough to bring back." Bile replied.

"What're you going to look for?" Hazaar asked. "Anything specific or are you just free-looking?"

"Free-looking, this is my first time to the dump so I have no idea what I'll find." Bile replied.

"Please reframe from bringing anything back, this place is too nice for dump-junk to be brought into it." Lhaklar said.

"No promises, dad." Bile mumbled. "What are you going to do today, Hazaar?"

"Headed down to the Rhine river," Hazaar replied.

"What are you going-k to do there?" Guyunis asked.

"Look around, maybe find a good tree that's sturdy enough to hold my weight so I can do some pull ups." Hazaar replied.

"Do not bring any animals home!" Lhaklar said sharply. "Look but don't touch."

"Yes dad." Hazaar sniffed.

"The Rhine river is a real crazy river, one thousand, three hundred and nine years ago the humans had the banks on both sides fully clear of all foliage. It's now thick in trees and bushes so be careful where you put your feet." Lazeer said. "Near broke my ankle in exploring what I did of the river."

"Is there a path on our side of the river?" Bile asked. "Beaten path or one made by concrete or rocks or-..."

"I saw a few faint beaten paths, they're nearly overgrown with grass and flowers though. There's one beaten path that has gray rocks on its sides that goes right down to the river, think fishermen use that one." Lazeer replied.

"What's your plan for the day, Lazeer?" Hazaar asked.

"Check out the town," Lazeer replied. "maybe find a girlfriend, bring her home and start a family."

"Guyunis, hold Lazeer down so I can take his goggle." Hazaar said. "The last thing we need is little Lazeer's running around the home, bugging me and momma bug-shit and destroying things."

She had gone upstairs to change into the pair of black pants and the black, long sleeve blouse that she had purchased four days before after the manager of the local food mart had agreed to hire her as a full-time employee. Her main job was to bag groceries, bring the carts and buggies that the customers left outside in and stock the shelves in the store but she had also been told that, since she had experience in working in a deli she was also expected to work in the deli section that handled the meats and cheeses - when there wasn't anyone available to be in that part of the store, that was. She would be making minimal wage, eight dollars an hour which she had been perfectly fine with... until Lhaklar had pointed out that minimal wage wasn't going to go far with their now having six persons in the family and with their now living in a house. She had come very close to grounding Lhaklar four days before when he had started pointing all this out to her, he had been right disrespectful towards her which was very abnormal as he usually acted in a very respectable and responsible manner.

Before he had even started up on her about how pitiful her pay was and about how far a $70 a week paycheck would get her and her family she had known that he'd bring the subject up about his going out to get a job to help bring cash in for the family. Five years before, when the subject had come up, she had said no to his getting a job, she had wanted him to remain being a kid because that was what he was. A kid. He shouldn't be the one going out to get a job or worrying about what all this paycheck could be spent on or what bill this or that paycheck could cover. He should have been going out, checking out the girls, getting into some mischief, fussing and fighting with his brothers about some odd thing that only male children fought over. She was the parent, she should be the one to worry about what bill a paycheck would be spent on or what could one week's paycheck could be spent on, even though she had told her son this he had still gone behind her back to get a job. He had become a cashier at Walmart and although she had tried talking him into quitting his job she had been very proud of him and grateful for his help. He had worked only part-time then, making minimal pay which, when combined with her own, had been enough to drop some of the stresses that came with everyday life such as what bill needed to be paid, what bill had to be dropped or what all they couldn't buy when it came time to stock the cabinets and the fridge for the month.

The utility bills at their old apartment had been small ones, he had pointed that out wonderfully along with pointing out that the utility bills for their new home would be a lot more. They had one extra mouth to worry about, she had a family of six to think of now instead of a family of five. $70 a week would not be able to take care of the bills or needs for her growing boys. Lhaklar had pointed all of this out when their family had been seated for a supper of Spaghetti, there had been quite a lot of tension between her and her son and that had made Bile, Guyunis, Hazaar and Lazeer not want to eat. After fifteen minutes of hearing Lhaklar babble on and on about what how pitiful her $70 paycheck was and about how much stress she'd be in when it came to bill time and about how little there'd be left over from a $70 paycheck after all the bills had been paid she had slapped her hand on the table. She had told Lhaklar to go upstairs to his room which he had, she and the rest of her family had eaten supper then she had gone up to do a private chat with her son. Naturally, he had apologized for putting her on the spot in the dining room when they had been eating supper and, naturally, he had begged her for forgiveness. She had asked him what he wanted from her and he, so unsurprisingly to her, had asked her for permission to go get a job to help her keep the family and the bills up. After a few minutes of thinking it over she had nodded her head, she had given him her consent and he had thanked her. She had given him one rule on this job of his: he was not allowed to work full-time like her. He could work part-time and on a three or four-day basis. He had nodded his head, had grumbled a little over being told that he was not allowed to have a job that would employ him full-time then he had gone to sit on his bed.

Angel heard all of the plans that her sons had decided to do that day, they were settling in very nicely into their new environment and she was glad for that. Lhaklar was saying how he was taking Guyunis to Karlruhe, the city nearest them that was right large, when she walked into the room. Although she was glad to see that her sons had plans for the day she was afraid that they'd be putting them off for a while. The manager at U-Krop-It, the food mart where she had been hired, had specifically asked for her to drive into work instead of teleporting in, the manager didn't want shoppers or other staff to be distracted by her teleporting in which she had understood. Her Porsche D2 would be gone for eight hours a day from Monday to Saturday, her sons would have nothing to drive and if the person who acted as manager to whatever store that Lhaklar decided to try to get a job in told her son that he was also required to drive into work he'd have no transportation in order to do that. She had asked Guyunis if he could kindly deduct $5,000 from the money that he had and he had done so without questioning her, she had all that rolled up in the front left pocket of her pants.

"Ma, you look lovely." Bile said after she had walked into the living room.

"Thank you sweetie," Angel said. "I heard all of what you boys said you was going to do today."

"We won't get into any trouble, mom." Lhaklar said.

"Promise," Hazaar said.

"Cross my heart, mama." Lazeer said, he made a crossing motion over the center of his chest with his left hand.

"I know you five will behave yourselves," Angel said. "think you five can put off your plans for a few hours? I need you boys to do a little something for me."

"All of us?" Bile asked.

"What?" Guyunis asked, he tugged nervously at the chain that was wrapped around his neck loosely.

"I want you five to go to Deutsch Autos," Angel said, she pulled the rolled up money that she had put in her left front pants pocket out. She tossed it over to Lhaklar who caught it then looked down at it. "find a car that you five can all agree on and buy it. This will be your car, boys, not mine. Lhaklar, you and Bile have your licenses on you right?"

"Y-you want us to work together in buying a car, mom?" Lhaklar asked, he was stunned.

"Won't you be required to be there?" Bile asked, he was just as stunned as Lhaklar was. "Won't you need to be there to sign some papers or something?"

"Act as mature as you five can, be polite and if you have any trouble use your communicators to contact me." Angel said. "If I am required to be there to sign some papers or prove your ages then I want you five to leave the store and go do as you planned to do today."

Lazeer, clad in a black mesh shirt that had a long tear in the chest and stomach and a pair of black jeans that had had a rip in the left knee only and that had a dark red stripe going down the length of the legs that was of a velvety material, didn't wonder silently if his mother was feeling okay like his brothers were. He knew his mother well, as did his brothers, and he knew that two things had happened that morning that were very odd. First off, he had walked into the kitchen to find his mother making breakfast in a gown and robe. His mother was one who liked to get dressed right after waking up, it was only when she wasn't feeling well or when she had accidentally overslept and had not had enough time to throw on some clothes that she wore a gown and robe when cooking breakfast. His mother giving them money to go buy a car with was the second odd thing that had happened that morning. They had all been content with being allowed to drive their mother's Buick Lucerne, she had trusted them to drive safe and to stay safe and to not total her car and they had felt a pride over having her trust them enough to drive that car, she had not said a word about getting another car and, up to that morning, she had never said a thing about letting them go out to pick and buy a car then call it theirs. Lazeer stood up from his seat on the sectional couch then he walked over to their mother, when he got to her he lightly placed the back of his hand against her forehead. His mother gave him one of them strange, what-are-you-doing looks then she took a step back.

"You okay, mom?" he asked.

"Nothing wrong with me, why do you ask?" his mother asked him.

"You tossed Lhaklar some money then said for us to go out and buy a car with it." Lazeer said. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine and I'm serious on what I said." Angel replied, she then glanced down. "Finally decided to break in the new shoes, Lazie?"

"Yes," the shoes that were on his feet he had purchased ten days before. When he had seen them in the shoe store that was in the local mall he had thought that they were cool, they were nearly all black except for a single, red, zig-zag on the sides.

"I want you five on your best behavior while looking for the car now," their mother said as she dug into the right front pocket of her pants. She pulled the key and the remote that went to her Porsche D2 that was parked in the carport next to the house. "no fighting, call me if there are any issues."

She left the house, they piled up in front of one of the living room windows and, as always, they felt a sense of sadness fall over them as she walked down the sidewalk then got in her car then drove off. It took them all a few minutes to back away from the window, Lhaklar did a quick count on the money that he had been given then he stuffed it into the front left pocket of his cream-colored pants. Lhaklar looked around at his brothers, giving them all the once-over, all of his brothers thought the same thing as he looked at them. Lhaklar's taken the reins, he's taken control and he's going to act like the annoying, bigshot daddy-man who is going to try to be as mean and controlling as an be, they all thought with a chill. Guyunis slapped the only pocket that was on the pair of black jeans that had tears and rips in the inner and outer thighs and that were lacking the lower portion of the legs once, he had a pack of Gold Flake in that pocket that had six cigarettes in it. After Guyunis slapped the only remaining pocket on his pants Lhaklar clapped his hands together then said for them to drop the drapes, double-check the locks on the doors and windows then teleport to Deutsch Autos. They all did as they were told then they all teleported to the small ice cream parlor that was beside the car dealership that their mother had told them to go looking for a car at that was on the far side of Elchesheim-Illingen.

"Okay, why did we teleport to an ice cream parlor?" Hazaar asked. "It's eighty-thirty in the morning, much too early for ice cream."

"Because we need to sit and talk it out about what type of car we're looking for." Lhaklar said.

They all sat down, Lazeer and Guyunis found themselves sitting at the table beside the one that Lhaklar, Bile and Hazaar were at because the tables only allowed for three people to be seated at them and the chairs were cemented to the concrete ground that was around the ice cream parlor. A waitress, a pretty little thing that looked to be in her late teens that had black hair and brown eyes, came out to ask if they needed any help in ordering, Lhaklar spoke on all of their behalfs by saying that they were fine, that they were just there to talk things over about a car. After the waitress left they got down to talking about what they were looking for in a car. Lhaklar made it clear very quick that they were not going to buy any trucks or muscle-type cars and he also said that they were not going to buy a car that was red, orange, light green or pink. He also said that they wanted a car that got good energy-mileage and that wasn't too expensive, he told them how much their mother had thrown at him then he leaned back in his chair.

"Although I groan at the missed chance at buying a truck I do agree with Lhaklar that it should be a car that we get." Bile said, it had been quiet for all of a minute. "A truck would only fit two or three of us in it unless the other two decide to ride in the back, I sure as hell won't be driving around in a vehicle with one of you numbskulls near sitting on my lap."

"Van's are tacky and they aren't really good on saving energy." Hazaar said.

"Has to be a four door," Lazeer said. "them two-door cars are a headache to get in and out of. Have to wrestle the seats forward just to get into the back and they're right small."

"One exhaust in the back, two is a hassel and four is ridiculous. One exhaust is enough to worry over." Lhaklar said.

"Should the gearshifter be on the side of the wheel or between the front seats?" Hazaar asked.

"I'd prefer it to be in between the front seats," Bile said. "I've heard stories of how the wheel's siding gets messed up after a while. The thing makes the siding of the wheel come loose, I've heard."

Jurgen Maurer, an aging man of fifty-two who had a bald head, gray-green eyes and a pot belly from having one too many drinks at the local bars in town, knew who they were soon after seeing them sitting at one of the far back tables that had been placed on the concrete square that was around the red and blue and yellow striped building of Baskin-Robbins. He figured that they had just decided to pop in at the ice cream parlor that served all sorts of flavors of ice cream, frozen yogurt, ice cream cakes and frozen drinks to just do a quick talk before heading out to their real destination. They were kids, after all, and they were also newcomers to the town so he figured that they were probably just exploring the town, getting to know the area and getting to know the local people. Jurgen went back to work, he had just opened the dealership up, had just inserted the key into the keyhole to unlock the building so he really didn't have time to worry over what some kids were doing in the shop that was approximately two hundred and thirty-five feet away from the place that he worked at. He had to pull the drapes up, he had to turn the power on and he also had to make sure that all the desks were appropriately set-up.

He was the manager of Deutsch Autos, had been for almost fifteen years, it paid good and he liked the clientele and the staff that worked in the building but what he liked most of all was what the dealership offered in vehicles. Although this was no cheap car dealership by a longshot it was one of them car dealerships where one could buy a vehicle without breaking the bank. Most of the cars out on the tarmac were priced at under six grand, there were two rows of ten to fifteen thousand dollars cars out on the lot but most of the vehicles that had been parked in neat rows on the tarmac were around the $4,000 to $6,000 range. There were vans, trucks and normal-looking cars on that black tarmac lot that was outside the building that he was now walking in, the vehicles that cost the most had been given one hell of a crazy design that only the crazy-minded or the college kids that wanted to look cool would look at and consider buying. Unlike most of them top-dollar or low-end dealerships that checked their client's credit scores before letting a client drive off the lot in one of their cars, Deutsch Autos did no checks on credit. A customer could pay fifteen to twenty percent of what a car on the lot outside the building cost then he or she could drive the vehicle out, that customer would be on a contract to pay a certain amount of money each month for whatever was left in the car's cost and, if the customer couldn't send payment for some odd reason the dealership would assist by offering to cut the current month's bill in half. He preferred to send his customers away driving a car instead of plain sending them away without having purchased a car that they were interested in, not every freakin' person in the world could afford to pay between four thousand and six thousand dollars for a new car in one fell swoop, not every freakin' person on the planet was rich or well enough off to be able to buy a car that between four thousand and six thousand dollars.

Jurgen went to the back, to where his own desk sat. His desk wasn't one of them overly crazy ones. It was one of them steel type desks that had a wooden top that had a pull out drawer underneath it. There was an LED desk lamp, a stapler, a blue cordless phone that was transparent, an upright file holder and a black pen on the surface of his desk, a lone waste basket was up against the left side of the desk and there was one of them black mesh chairs pushed up underneath the desk. The carpet underneath his feet was blue while the walls and the ceiling above were painted a creamish orange color. Only the back of the building had no windows on it, the door that acted as the entrance to the building was half panel, half glass. Jurgen checked the messages that were on his phone then he sat down, it wasn't long before four of his co-workers walked into the building and started their early work morning routines.

"Seems like we get customers earlier every day we open." Kathe Fischer, a thirty year old woman who had black hair and blue eyes who was wearing a purple scarlet dress that had semi-long sleeves and purple heels said.

"The earlier they come in the longer the day will be." Markus Goethe, an African-American man who was wearing a gray business suit said.

"They will probably not be here for long," Torsten Wulff, a red-haired man who had dull green eyes, said. "it's just a bunch of kids checking the cars out, nothing more."

After discussing what they wanted in the car that their mother had told them to go buy Lhaklar had stood up, he had stretched his arms back then he had walked over to the auto dealership without saying so much as a word to any of them. Bile had rolled his eyes then he had said for everyone to stand up and follow him which they had all done, by the time they had reached the dealership Lhaklar was already looking for a car. Bile politely said for them to fan out and start looking, he said that if they saw something that looked promising to not hesitate to call everyone over to inspect it. Lhaklar had not given any of the trucks or vans that he had walked by a glance, he was more interested in the simple, four-door cars that had a non-crazy, normal-looking body frame on them. Hazaar went directly to the station wagon-like cars while Lazeer went over to look at the WV Beetle-like cars. Bile decided to walk around to the far side of the parking lot to look at the jeeps while Guyunis found himself simply walking along feeling tense. It was nearly deserted out in the parking lot, just him and his brothers, the early morning traffic hadn't really started up yet so the road beside the dealership was nearly empty. Guyunis had no idea what to do, he knew not a thing about cars so he really didn't know what they were really looking for. He felt like a burden, he felt like he shouldn't be there in the parking lot with all the vehicles surrounding him, this feeling and the one of how he felt dozens of eyes peering at him, checking him out, made his skin grow taut with tension. He had done no contributing in the talk about what all his bruders wanted in a car, Hazaar and Lazeer had asked him twice what he liked in a car and he had shyly answered that it have four wheels and be able to get from point A to point B, when Bile had asked him what color he'd be happy with on the car that they chose he had simply said red then he had clamped his mouth shut.

Lazeer called everyone over when he found a dull gold VW Beetle Y12 that had been stretched out so it had a back arrangement of seats, the dull gold WV Beetle Y12 had one exhaust in the back and a radio antennae sticking from up from the front hood, it was a good car but Lhaklar said something about how Beetle Y12's being energy guzzlers so they went on with the search. It wasn't long before his youngest bruder called everyone back over to look at a white, four-door, BBC Classic Lux that was white. Lhaklar said he liked the car at first then, after he saw that the doors swung up instead of to the side he changed his mind, he walked off without saying anything further on the car and they all just looked at each other in shocked awe before going on to resume the search. They got their revenge a few minutes later when Lhaklar called them over to look at a Retro-5 car that was black. The headlights and doors seemed to disappear on the car, they could only be seen after some intense looking and the exhaust was pitifully short in the back. Bile and his brothers, after they saw the car, walked away from it. Lhaklar gave them a scowl then he walked on down the aisle that he was on.

It went on like that for a full twenty-five minutes, one of the brothers would call everyone over to inspect a car then Lhaklar would walk away without giving a verbal opinion on it. Bile, Hazaar, Lazeer and Guyunis would glance at a car that Lhaklar would call them over to look at then they'd walk on by without giving any opinions on it. Lhaklar and Hazaar got into a verbal fight over a Frankel DoubleX car, a car that was nearly all silver except for a flourescent blue stripe that was on both sides of the car. Hazaar had called everyone over to look at the car, everyone had liked it except for Lhaklar who claimed that the windshield was too dark and that none of them would like it for long because of it being a two-door vehicle instead of a four. He claimed that, since the two doors that were on the car stretched back for nearly all the length of the car they would take up a lot of space when someone was opening it and that it'd be up for grabs in the damage department. Hazaar was the one who started the fight, he claimed that his brother was being too harsh and controlling and Lhaklar said that since he was in charge he had to be both which thoroughly pissed Hazaar off. Bile took his brothers away from the fight, he remembered what their mother had said about their not fighting during the looking for the car and, sadly, that was what they were doing. Lhaklar was being the annoying, bigshot daddy and Hazaar and he were fighting and they were all acting in an immature way with all the looking then pointing out this little thing or that little thing that wasn't really true about the cars that they had been called over to look at. Their mother had only thrown the money that was to be used on a car at Lhaklar, she had not said that he was in charge.

Bile called Hazaar, Lazeer and Guyunis over to look at a Symbiosis, a car that had four doors on it that were transparent and a frame that was dark blue in color. The windshield was slightly dark, as were the windows, and the trunk was somewhat small but it could fit four persons in it and it had one exhaust in the back. The car sat up on big tires that had wide rims so the exhaust would be safe from road or speed bump impacts. His brothers all liked the car but, when Lhaklar walked over to inspect it, he said that he wasn't going to allow them to spend $4,845 on a car that looked like something a giant chewed up then spit out. Lhaklar walked off after saying that and Bile followed him, when they were out of hearing range Bile grabbed Lhaklar by the sleeve of his brown and green striped, long sleeve, button down shirt. He twisted his brother around then he voiced his annoyance over how his younger brother was acting.

"Either you decided to go into jerk-town after ma tossed you that money or you need to grow up." Bile said, Lhaklar blinked his large, oval, pistachio colored eyes that had a silverish tinge to them in shock. "Ma said for us to behave ourselves, to not fight and-..."

"I'm not fighting with anyone, I'm trying to find a car that-..."

"You like, that's really all you care about. You're just looking for a car that you and you alone will like." Bile said.

"No, that we all like." Lhaklar said.

"Except for you, we all liked that last car that we looked at."

"Did you see that car for what it was or was you just plain looking then saying you liked it?" Lhaklar asked. "The tires were too big on that car, the rims too wide and-..."

"The tires were big for a reason, you'd not cause damage to the bottom of a car with the tires being that-..."

"You sure as hell would! The hydraulics would give out quick, we'd be looking at a four grand payout for replacement hydraulics."

They split up, went off in different directions not really looking at the cars anymore. The looking for a car thing had suddenly lost its interest in all of them, Lhaklar had pulled most of their interest in finding and buying a car out of them and now with Bile and Lhaklar fighting the rest of that interest had been sucked clean out of them. Hazaar and Lazeer plain wanted to be out of the car lot, they wanted to go do as they had planned to do that day while Guyunis wanted to head home. Guyunis felt drained of energy for some reason, he was depressed and he was angry. He wanted to just go home, pop in some music and maybe read a magazine or two while lying on his bed. He found himself also wanting his mum, with all that had gone on in the last thirty minutes he felt like he needed some comfort and who better to give him that than the woman who was his new mutter? Home, either some Mastadon or Slipknot or Korn music, a magazine, a hug from his new mum and a blanket to throw over himself, that all sounded good to him. All good things to do, all things good enough to get him away from the mess that one of his older bruders was causing with his immaturity. Before that morning he had felt like a part of the family, he had felt connected to all of his bruders but after Lhaklar had started his immature, annoying, daddy routine in their looking for a car he felt like he didn't really belong in the family and that just made him feel very sad because he loved each and every one of his bruders and his mum like crazy. He had liked several cars that were parking in the parking lot around the light gray building that had windows on three sides of it.

The BRB Concept that had a ringed back, large tires that had black rims and black windows he had liked a lot. That car had been painted nearly all black, there had been a single dark brown stripe down its sides and a series of dark brown stripes going across the back, it had looked cool to him but his fear over having Lhaklar say that he was dumb because of his liking the car had scared him enough to not call everyone over to look at it. He had liked the Vexel H5, a dull silver car that's top swung up then over when one was either getting in or out of the car, a lot as well but he had, again, not called his bruders over because of his fear over Lhaklar turning on him. The Wagon 5Figure Eight he had liked a lot too, that had been a dark red station wagon-like car that had a station wagon front and a flatbed back to it, Lhaklar had said no on trucks earlier so he had figured that his bruder would say no on that car solely because of the truck-like flatbed back portion of the Wagon 5Figure Eight. Guyunis stopped, he ran his hand down the length of chain that was connected to the one that was around the chain that went around his shoulders and chest then he looked over to the left. Before he could stop himself, he called his brothers over to see the car that he had just seen.

"Guy, what's wrong?" Hazaar asked after he had ran up. Guyunis hesitated for a second then he simply pointed at the car that he had seen. Hazaar took one look at the car then he yelled for the rest of their brothers.

Lazeer ran over then Bile, Lhaklar walked over with his hands stuffed in the front pockets of his pants so he was the last to see the car that Guyunis had seen. Bile had threatened to call their mother on his communicator, he had threatened to tell her all of what was going on in the parking lot if Lhaklar didn't stop being such an annoying, disrespectful brother and Lhaklar was, in a way, very emotionally hurt. It was continue acting as he was, be energetic and try to be mature or drop the act completely. When he saw the car that Guyunis had called them over to see he found himself dethroned at the one in charge, Bile had taken over. The car was one of them i8 BMW's, it had see-through sides, the top had a sunroof on it and the body of the car was low to the ground. The wheels were normal in size, they had normal rims and hubcaps, the non-transparent parts of the car were a dark blue color. When Lhaklar walked around to inspect the back of the car he found that it had on exhaust and that the trunk was decent in size. Lhaklar had only to look at the tank that was on the left side of the car to know that the car was one of them energy-run vehicles. Cars that ran on energy instead of gasoline had started being put out on the market in the late 2000's but it had taken nearly a hundred years before the humans had switched over, the whole idea behind vehicles that ran on energy instead of fuel was to cut down on the pollutants that a car put out when driven. Energy-run cars didn't put out harmful substances when they were running, the exhausts exiled a non-toxic, non-pollutant plume of near clear smoke that evaporated within five seconds. Energy cars ran better than ones that ran on gasoline and they lasted longer too.

"Good job, G." Bile said, he started looking around for a salesperson who could open one of the doors so he could take a look at what the inside of the car looked like. Lhaklar, seeing his chance to take over command, took off to the dealership's office building. He was gone for all of three minutes, when he returned he had a red haired man who had dull, green eyes walking behind him.

"This is the one," he said, he pointed at the i8 BMW.

"You all being serious or are you kids playing a prank?" the red-haired man asked. "You old enough to buy a car or-..."

"Sir, we're all in our thousands. We're old enough to both drive and buy a car." Lhaklar said, he showed the human his driver's license which showed his date of birth as March 8, 1999.

"I'm aware of how old you kids are, my question is still the same. You old enough in your people's eyes to-..."

"Our people's eyes?" Hazaar ran them three words over his tongue for a second or two before saying anything more. "Let's get out of here, guys. Don't know about you but I'm offended by this idiot's words."

"My older brother and I are old enough, our younger brothers are not but we're including them in on this as well just to make things fair." Lhaklar said, even he was offended by the red-haired man's words.

"I apologize but it's a basic question that needed to be asked." the human replied, he held his hands up when Guyunis took a step towards him. "My name's Torsten Wulff, I will be very happy to open this car up and let you inspect it. If you wish to test drive it just tell me, I'll get the key."

"That-k-'s better." Guyunis said.

When the secondborn son of Angel Irene had come into the building asking for a salesperson Jurgen Maurer had been in the can, Kathe Fischer had been on the phone with a client that was calling about a car and Markus Goethe had disappeared, wherever Markus had gone he had no clue. It had only been him available to help the kid, or be a part of the kid's prank as he so believed what was going on, so he had stood up then had followed Lhaklar out to the car lot. He did as he said he would, he inserted the key into the key slot that was in the door, unlocked the car then he backed away. The older boy, Bile was his name, looked inside the car first then Lhaklar then Hazaar and then Lazeer, the black-skinned kid that he didn't know the name of only glanced in before backing up. The five kids went off a ways to do a private chat, he stayed where he was which was in front of the car waiting for the prank's punchline to come rolling towards him. True, he didn't know any of the "other" species' laws or rules and he didn't know when the "other" species, the aliens if you will, were allowed to buy or drive cars. It would be bad business if he up and sold a vehicle on the lot to a bunch of kids, he could well lose his job and the dealership's image would be dropped. If the kid had a note with him that had his mummy or datty's written words saying that they had given permission to said kid's purchasing a vehicle he'd have no problem selling a car to that kid. All he had seen was a driver's license that claimed one of the kids had been born in 1999 - which he knew was true, the secondborn son of Angel Irene had been born in the early months of 1999, he had not been shown any written notes though.

He was one of the younger people working in the dealership, he was just twenty-four years old but that really meant nothing. A person could be in his fifties and not act it, he had to keep on his toes and keep an eye out for the troublemakers that came in looking to brew up some of them good pranks that would either damage the dealership's image or make a salesperson look like a fool. He had gone to Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for a mechanic degree, he had graduated with good grades and then he had gone straight to looking for work. Deutsch Autos had been the fourth establishment that he had applied for a job in, Jurgen Maurer had looked his application over then he had asked him a few, big, questions before sending him home. A week later, he had received his call that said he if he wanted the job as a salesperson of Deutsch Autos it was still available. It had only been two years since he had started working at the dealership, he had made some fine friends and he was well respected within the work environment but, of all the people that worked for the dealership he was still considered a rookie. He did his best to be as professional as he could, he did his best to be polite but there were them customers that just went too far, he had maybe snapped at two or three customers for their rude antics in his career. He really hoped that he didn't have to get rude towards Angel Irene's kids, he didn't want any bad attention drawn his way and he kind of didn't much like the black-skinned kid. To him, that black-skinned kid that had the slightly slanted, glowing yellow eyes looked like a troublemaker.

"Think that we'll skip the test drive, we like this car so much that we're willing to stick our necks out on it." Bile said. "Lhaklar and I have both our identifications and our driver's licenses on us, Hazaar and Lazeer have their learning permits if that's good enough to identify them by."

"Can you take us instead so we can fill out the appropriate papers then pay for this car, Mr. Wulff?" Lhaklar asked after Torsten Wulff had said nothing nor had moved from his spot in front of the car that they had decided that they all liked.


	12. Chapter 12

"For new car owners you boys are being awfully quiet about your car." Angel said the morning after her sons had purchased the i8 BMW that Guyunis had seen in the parking lot of Deutsch Autos. "Something happen to dampen your mood? Someone do something to make the experience less exciting for you?"

Guyunis, Hazaar and Lazeer shook their heads then went back to eating the breakfast that was in front of them that their mother had made for them after she had woke up that fine morning of August the 18th. The weather outside was nice, the weather forecast for the day said that it'd be slightly cloudy and in the mid-seventies with not a shower of rain expected until later on that night, they should have all been acting pretty excited after purchasing the i8 BMW but, after all that had happened after Lhaklar had gone off to find a salesperson to come out to help them with the car all of that excitement had sort of been sucked clean out of them. Their mother, the morning before, had said that if any trouble arose during their looking for a car that they were to contact her then go off to do their already planned activities for the day; they had all disobeyed her by going on with both looking for a car and then receiving, reading over and then signing the paperwork that they had been given by the manager of Deutsch Autos. The man that Lhaklar had asked to come out to help them with the car, a Mr. Torsten Wulff, had been no help at all. He had seen them looking for a car and looking to purchase a car as a joke, they had all had to ask the man to take them to the Deutsch Autos building that was in the center of the parking lot three times before he had actually done so and after they had gotten into the building they had gotten into a fight with the man.

What had happened? Well, that was pretty simple. They had no more stepped into the Deutsch Autos building before the man had turned on them, he had said that the business wanted nothing of their pranks or jokes then he had said that they should all be ashamed of themselves for trying to make him look like a fool which had been absurd. They had gone to the auto dealership to look for and buy a car not make anyone look like a fool or play any jokes or pranks, Bile had told the red-haired man this in a calm voice which had gone from being calm to downright mean and angry within a second. They had all had to jump at him and grab an arm just to keep him from lunging at Mr. Wulff after the man had started calling their older brother a doofus and then had said that he was going to be putting his foot up their asses if they didn't exit the building and go off someplace else with their pranks and disrespectful antics. Guyunis, in a fit of shock from the man's words, had released Bile's wrist and had probably gotten the worst of the man's rude outbursts. The man had called Guyunis a troublemaker, he had said for them to get their asses out of the building and to take the "troublemaker" with them. When they had remained standing in place just five feet from the dealership's front door Mr. Wulff had grabbed the phone nearest him, he had threatened to call the cops if they didn't leave and now. They had just been turning to leave the dealership when the manager, a man named Jurgen Maurer, had walked up to see what was going on.

Mr. Jurgen Maurer, a bald-headed man who had had gray-green eyes and a pot belly that had looked to be in his fifties, had taken care of the situation soon after hearing both them and Mr. Wulff out on what was going on. Lhaklar had offered to use his magical abilities in taking the memory of what had happened out of his memory banks to prove to the man that what he and they had told him was true after they had all explained what had happened, the man had said that that wasn't necessary. Mr. Maurer had told Mr. Wulff to go to his desk, sit down and calm himself, after Mr. Wulff had done that Mr. Maurer had asked for them to follow him. They had followed the man after a few seconds of just standing by the front door to a desk that had been placed in the far back of the building. They had all stood in front of the big, steel-type desk that had an LED desk lamp, a stapler, a blue cordless phone that was transparent, an upright file holder and a black pen on its surface after they had reached it while the man had sat in the black mesh chair that had been behind the desk. Mr. Maurer had asked them what it was that he could help them with and Lhaklar had said that they had an interest in buying a car; specifically the i8 BMW that Guyunis had seen. Most of everything that had happened next had been sort of boring for all of them, the man had pulled out all sorts of forms and a mini-booklet of paperwork that Lhaklar and Bile had to read through and then sign.

Although they had all known that the reading over and then the signing of the forms and then the papers that were in the mini-booklet was important but they had all been pretty bored over it all very quickly. Bile and Lhaklar had looked to be working on fumes when they had reached the sixth or seventh page in the mini-booklet, it had been sort of comical as they had looked plenty tired of all the paperwork that needed to be read and then signed. there had been a lot of yawning going on between Hazaar, Lazeer adn Guyunis while Bile and Lhaklar had been struggling to keep from yawning themselves. After twenty, long, minutes of watching their older brothers read over then sign the pages in the mini-booklet provided bu Mr. Jurgen Maurer they had all been wanting to walk around the building. The only thing that had kept them from doing so was, after Bile and Lhaklar had finished reading over and then signing the pages that were in the mini-booklet, Mr. Maurer's asking Bile and Lhaklar for two forms of identification. Mr. Maurer had said that he'd do the rest of the paperwork, he had said right to their faces that he was giving Bile and Lhaklar a break by doing the rest of the paperwork himself. He had taken out a five-page booklet that required a full identification on the persons buying the car that the paperwork had been signed up for and, also, the identification of the salesperson who was helping the person buying the car with the forms that he or she had just read and signed.

When the man had asked for two forms of identification from their older brothers Bile had looked about ready to crap his boxers, Lhaklar had swallowed once then they had stood up from the two chairs that they had been seated in. In an almost slow-motion type of way they had pulled their wallets out from their back pockets then they had opened them, in that same slow-motion type of way that had been sort of comical. Bile had produced his driver's license and his fake I.D. card quickly, he had looked down right after handing the man his two forms of I.D.'s while Lhaklar had given a quick lie on why their two forms of identifications were different. Bile and Lhaklar both had fake I.D.'s that almost looked like their driver's licenses except for one, small but very noticeable detail. While Bile's driver's license said he had been born on March 3, 1998 - his actual birth date - his I.D. card said that he had been born on March 3, 4077 and while Lhaklar's driver's license said that he had been born on March 8, 1999 - his actual birth date - his I.D. card said that he had been born on March 8, 4078. Before Lhaklar had handed his two forms of identification over he had claimed that the lady that had been running the Department of Motor Vehicles business in Green River, Wyoming had insisted that both his and Bile's identification cards have the 4077 and the 4078 as the birth year instead of the years 1998 and 1998 on them, he had said right to Mr. Maurer's face that the lady had insisted on the two cards being made out that way. Their older brother had further said that the lady had claimed that they'd be thrown in jail for having fake I.D.'s on their persons with no questions asked if the cards had the years 1998 and 1999 on them. When Mr. Maurer had asked why the driver's licenses had their real year of birth's on them Lhaklar had responded that the same lady had messed up on them and that they had not had a chance to fix them up before their father had abducted them from the planet. Mr. Maurer had given both Bile and Lhaklar a look then he had sighed, he had said alright before going on to fill out the papers that he had been required to fill out. Since Lhaklar had explained why his and Bile's identification cards and driver's licenses had different D.O.B's on them Mr. Maurer had not asked Hazaar and Lazeer the same question of why their learner's permits had their actual D.O.B's on them when he had asked them for two forms of I.D.'s. After all the paperwork had been done and Lhaklar had paid for the car in full, the title had been made out. Although they all owned the car it was only Bile and Lhaklar's names on the title, Mr. Maurer had said that until Hazaar and Lazeer got another form of identification they couldn't be put on the title of ownership and that went double for Guyunis, who had no I.D. at all on his person.

After all the paperwork had been done and after Lhaklar had paid for the car in full so that there would be no monthly payment plan that they had to do for the car Mr. Maurer had given them the title and then the key to the car. They had all filed out of the dealership's building after shaking the man's hands, they had gone straight to the i8 BMW that they had just gotten through purchasing, had gotten into it then had driver away. They had done nothing that they had planned to do on that day afterwards, they had all been in a state of shock over being told to go out and buy a car by their mother and they had all still been pretty upset over Mr. Torsten Wulff's actions towards them and they had all been pretty much been drained of all the energy that they had had earlier that morning. All they had done was drive the car back home, park it and then go inside where they had all remained for the rest of the day.

"Give us a few more hours, ma. We're all still in shock over you actually saying for us to go buy a car." Bile said.

"Still dog-tired after the mountain of paperwork that we had to do after finding the car is more like it." Lhaklar said.

"Man! That was boring just standing, looking over you two's shoulder's as you read and then signed that big pile of papers that that man handed over to you." Hazaar said.

"That bad boys?" Angel asked.

"I thought I was going to nod off after Bile and Lhaklar started reading and then signing that booklet that Mr. Maurer slid across his desk." Lazeer said. "Was that normal, mom? We didn't have to do but so much paperwork on our first day at Pronghorn and UT..." Lazeer looked across the table at Guyunis, who merely glanced up at him before going back to his breakfast of fried ham and eggs. "And Goboshu's, was that man treating us fairly or were we given more than our fair share of paperwork to read over and sign?"

"Yeah, unfortunately you boys got a good life's lesson yesterday. The paperwork that a student has to do on the first day of school is very little compared to what someone has to do when buying a house or a car." Angel replied. "Sounds like you all handled it well. Did the dealership do the plates for the car or did they just leave you with the filled out paper that acts as a temporary plate?"

"Uh uh," Bile shook his head vigorously. "one of us will need to take the car down to the Road Safety Authority to both get the car registered and then get the plates made up."

"Which one of you five is going to do that?" Angel asked.

That was a question that none of them wanted to deal with on that day or the next or the next. After doing all that paperwork - or in Guyunis's, Hazaar's and Lazeer case, watching their older brothers do all the paperwork, none of them wanted to be in any building doing anything that required the use of a pen or a pencil or a piece of paper. They had all just decided to go and do what all they had planned to do the day before. Bile had said right as they had all taken their seats at the dining room table that he was going off to the dump to see what all was in the place. Lhaklar had said that he was taking Guyunis with him to Karlsruhe - at least for a few hours, Guyunis had surprised everyone after sitting down by saying that he was going to explore some of Elchesheim-Illingen on his own. Hazaar said he was going to do his damnedest to spend most of his time in the forest that was around the Rhine river and Lazeer said that he'd be seeing Guyunis around Elchesheim-Illingen later on that day, Lazaar was hoping to explore some of the town near their house as well that day. Since Guyunis had decided to go off on his own that day Lhaklar had announced that he'd begin his job-searching, naturally their mother had given him some ground rules to follow in looking for a job. He was to work part-time and during the day and he was expected to be home before curfew on the days that he was suppose to be at work. Lhaklar had nodded his head, had said that he understood then he had gone on to eat his breakfast.

"I guess I'm the fool that is stuck taking the car down to the Road Safety Authority," Bile said after no one had spoken up after their mother had asked who was taking the car to be registered and then get the plates made up and then put on the front and back of the car. "since it's nearly on E I'll take it down to one of them energy refueling stations first."

"You'll have plenty of time to do what you said you wanted to do today, Biley." Angel said. "It's only a few pieces of paper that you will need to sign, you'll need to show who owns the car so make sure to take the title and all the information that... who was it that helped you with the paperwork for the car again?"

"Mr. Jurgen Maurer." Bile answered.

"Take everything that Mr. Maurer gave over to you yesterday with you. If you have to show a form of identification you know what to do." Angel said, Bile simply nodded his head then went back to his breakfast.

They finished their breakfast, quick cleaned the dishes that they had eaten off of before putting them on the side of the sink that was reserved for dirty dishes then they all prepared to leave the house. Angel, being it a Tuesday and a workday, had already been dressed for work. She hugged each of her sons, told them to be good then she left the house. She honked the horn of her Porsche D2 when she saw that her five sons were all standing in front of the living room windows, her biological sons had picked up the habit of watching her as she left for work quite a long time ago, Guyunis seemed to of already had the habit wired into him which she was happy to note. After she had driven down the road her sons all started getting ready to leave the house, Bile grabbed the paperwork that Mr. Maurer had given him and his brothers the day before and then the keys to the i8 while Lhaklar, Hazaar, Lazeer and Guyunis checked to see if they had their wallets on them. Bile glanced over at his brothers once then he left the house, his glance had said it all for him, he had not had to say a thing on how he felt over having to go out to do more paperwork on the car. Hazaar and Lazeer teleported out of the house after Bile backed out of the driveway, Lhaklar and Guyunis followed on their heels half a minute later. The house was locked up tight, both the front door and the back had been locked and the latches that were on the windows had been turned.

"They sure don't stay at home much," Petra Klied said after seeing Bile drive away in a car that looked to be newly purchased. "leave sometime after eight in the morning, Miss. Irene stays away until three in the afternoon and her sons return home around five."

"Sounds like a typical family to me," Kurt said. "the parent goes off to work in the morning, does her usual eight hours then goes home. The kids stay out until sundown."

"Where'd the money come from for that car, though?" Petra asked. "It looks brand new and Miss. Irene just drove off in one of them new Porsche's. They have two cars now, did you notice datty?"

"Sure did, none of my business to really comment on it." Kurt said, he then sipped his coffee from a black and white striped mug before putting the mug down on the table.

"Probably got some sort of government assistance or something." Mitzi Klied said. "Mr. Leinart might have given them some money to help them get on their feet."

"Wouldn't a new car be taking that monetary help too far, mum?" Petra asked.

"The money is theirs to use on whatever they wish to use it on," Kurt said quickly. "from what I've seen they have made good off of what they have been given in help from either Mr. Leinart or the government. The house looks good, everyone looks happy and well-fed, everything looks as it should over there."

"But the car-..."

"Drop it, Petra." Kurt said sternly. "If they didn't use what they had left from the help that they received from Mr. Leinart or the government on purchasing the new car then they must have had some cash stashed away somewhere. Miss. Irene or one of her kids might have had some money of their own on their persons or put away somewhere safe or something, it's really none of our business on where they got the funds for a new car or for any other big purchases that they make."

"Miss. Irene and her sons aren't doing anything wrong, Pettie. I can say that with confidence, they've been here for almost a month now, no trouble has started up because of them. They're acting like a normal family, the kids go off after the parent leaves for work and they stay away from the house until the sun starts going down." Mitzi said.

Like the Irene's, as they called the family that had moved into the old Kaufer house, her family had just finished breakfast. Sarah had gone upstairs to her room to freshen herself up a bit before leaving the house, she had said that she was headed to town for a browse session in the mall with some girl-friends of hers while Petra had said that she was just going to stay around home that day which was strange. Petra had plenty of friends, Mitzi knew that her oldest daughter had plenty of both female and male friends that she could hang out with in town but here was her oldest daughter, saying that she was going to stick around the house. Petra had been paying extra attention to what all happened in the house beside theirs and both she and her husband were starting to get concerned about it. Petra was starting to get nosey towards their new neighbors and that could well make trouble, one of the Irene-boys could get offended by her constant attention-giving to the house that they lived in or Miss. Irene might get offended, concerned or worse, angered over the unconscious threat that their daughter was sending out. Petra was unconsciously stalking the family, by her constantly looking out a window at them or their house or by her constantly looking over at their house or at them when she was outside she was sending out a message. She was telling them, unconsciously, that they were being watched by her.

Sarah was not doing that, she was being a very pleasant and respectful neighbor while her older sister was not. Mitzi had done the quick glancing thing during the first week of the Irene family's residing in the house then she had stopped, her husband had done the same thing. They had noticed the boys coming home with one or two shopping bags from time to time, nothing criminal about that, boy children liked doing their browse and shop activities too. She and her husband had seen the car, a nice i8 BMW that looked very new, the day before but they had said nothing on that either. Like her husband had just said to their oldest child, it was none of their business in what the family beside them bought or parked in the driveway or brought home.

Lots of people had two cars, she and Kurt had two cars, the neighbors around her had more than one car in the driveway and she also knew of some people who had three cars. The multiple car owning was done for a reason, some people just liked to have a back-up vehicle while others just wanted to have two cars to save on the hassle of either car-pooling to work or school. Other families that had teenage children wanted a second, or third, car for their kids' use. Say the parents were out, either shopping or at work and they had taken the car, or cars, with them. There was another car in the driveway for the teenage child to use if he or she should need it. Being that Miss. Irene had left before her oldest boy, Bile, Mitzi believed that Miss. Irene used the Porsche D2 for work and she also felt that she had decided to stick her neck out on her boys in going out to get a second car for them and their use. For all Mitzi knew, all five of Miss. Irene's sons could have driver's licenses or learner's permits... one of the older boys might even have a job or a girlfriend of something that would require the need of a car.

"Will you leave the Irene's be, Petra." Mitzi said, she finished the dishes then she moved away from the sink. "Nothing is off or wrong about our new neighbors. They're a normal functioning family that is just trying to live peacefully and happily here in our neighborhood. There's no need for you to stay here today or for you to watch them or their house. I want you to leave the house today, go spend some time with your friends."

"Normal functioning family that brings home a new car no more than two weeks and four days after they've moved into a new house?" Petra asked. "That don't sound normal to me."

"It's normal," Kurt said, he stood up then started to leave the kitchen. "leave the family be. Stop being a brown-noser and just leave the family be will you."

Petra watched her father as he left the kitchen then, after he had disappeared from the room she turned back to her mother who was still giving her that stern, no-nonsense type of look. How could she explain it that she was just watching the house that was beside her own only to get a fleeting look at the dark-skinned kid that had so intrigued her at the first of the month? She had yet to see what he looked like underneath that hoody that he constantly wore, all she had been able to see of his face were them slightly slanted, glowing yellow eyes that he had. His body she could see, he didn't hide that behind any sort of loose garment, but his face she had never been allowed to see and that sort of troubled her. Was he hiding something or was he just being shy? A few days ago she had said hi to one of the older of the alien boys, Lhaklar was his name, and he had responded, she had also said hello to the older of Miss. Irene's sons and to one of the younger of the alien boys and they had all responded, the only ones that she had not been able to speak to was the black-skinned boy and the dark-blue skinned, alien boy who, at the moment, gave her the creeps.

How rude was that? She could just see her mutter now if she found out how she felt about the Irene boys. Oh, you think that the older of the "alien-looking" boys seems to be very mature and respectful while you think that the older of Miss. Irene's sons is less mature yet maturer than the younger of the "alien-looking" boys but he's nice nad polite and respectful and you think that the youngest of the "alien-looking" boys is cute but somewhat strange while you have no opinion other than you're intrigued by the black-skinned kid and after just one seeing of the middle child of Miss. Irene's you think he's creepy? Petra Klied, you know better than to judge people that quickly! All them kids are nice kids, they seem to be staying out of trouble and they seem to be very respectful of others. Petra couldn't help these early feelings, they had just started up and she had no way of controlling them. She was curious, nervous and scared of the five sons that her new neighbor had, she knew she should get to know Miss. Irene's kids before doing the judging thing but she just couldn't do that at the moment. Mitzi Klied left the kitchen soon after her husband and Petra, following the instructions of her mother, went over to the phone. She called her friend, Kirstin Abbing, then asked her if she was doing anything that day that was away from their neighborhood. Kirstin Abbing said that she and several of their other friends were going out on the town, she said that they they'd be happy if she would come along with them and Petra said she would. Five minutes later, Petra left her parents house, she went across the street to the Abbings' house where Kirstin and several of their friends were waiting on her.

Bile did exactly what he had said he'd do after leaving the house, he drove the i8 BMW only a mile before teleporting it to one of the energy stations where he found himself having to sit behind a rusty, beat-up looking car that the driver had just parked by the energy pump. He had drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he had waited, the thought of taking the joint out from under the seat had crossed his mind once or twice but he had not reached down to retrieve it, he had just sat and waited until the driver had come out. When the driver, a fat man who looked rather sloppy and unintelligent, had seen him waiting to use the pump he had walked a little faster. Where that rusty, beat-up car had been taken after it had been driven out of Energy Star One Bile had no clue, he had just been glad to get on with the refueling of the car. Filling the tank was easy, he had just gone into the little store that was under the slanted roof that all the energy pumps were under, he had paid for what the car had needed then he had gone back out to the i8. He had flipped the lid of the tank open, had unscrewed the cap that was on the tank then he had screwed the energy refueling tube onto the little lip that was under the tank's lid. Three minutes later he had heard a beeping sound, the sound the pump gave off when the car's energy tank was full, he had unscrewed the refueling tube, had screwed the tank cap back into place then he had placed the refueling tube back on its hook. After the tank had been filled he had driven off about a mile before teleporting to the Road Safety Authority, which was on the far side of Elchesheim-Illingen.

He cursed lowly when he saw the building, unlike the DMV building in the states that just had one level and that had maybe one or two bathrooms in it along with a back section that was kept separate from the reception and waiting areas, the Road Safety Authority building was huge! It was three or four stories tall, a big steel building with big, blue windows and it looked like there were multiple entrance/exit doors on it. Bile parked the car as close to the building as he could then he grabbed all the paperwork that he had brought along with him, he got out of the car after he checked to see if his wallet, that had his driver's license and fake I.D. in it, was where it should be then he walked right up to the building. Once he was at the glass, double-looking doors he found himself having to take a step back, the doors swept up instead of to the sides which was new to him and the doors were not double but in one single piece, he had never seen a pair of sliding doors slid up into a building after someone had walked up to them and he had never seen a pair of sliding glass doors that looked double but were really not before. After he had gotten over his shock over how the glass doors had reacted to his walking within distance of them he went into the building.

"Pardon, sir, this is the Road Safety Authority building right?" he asked the nearest human who was wearing a dark blue tuxedo and shoes.

"Huh?" the human replied, Bile asked his question again slowly. "Ich weib nicht Englisch."

"Ist dies der Verkehrssicherheit behorde gebaude?" Bile said in German.

"Ja, ja." the man replied.

"Danke,"

He was glad that he was as fluent in German as he was because he found himself asking the humans around him where he should go to get a car registered, the plates made up for a car and, of course, since he was here he might as well go on and do it, where he should go to get an identification card made up because most of the humans that he asked his questions to spoke only German. He was told to go up to the second level then walk down the hallway, where he wanted to go to get the car registered was six doors down the hallway while he would have to go up to the third level to get the plates done. He was told that the first level was where he wanted to be to get an identification card made up so he decided to stall the car registration and getting the license plates made up for a few minutes, he went to the room on the first level that he was told to go to then he walked up to the front desk. He signed himself in then he went and sat down in one of the blue chairs that were in the room with the forms that the lady at the front desk gave him to do. He did the forms quickly, added his birth date and other important information then he took it back up to the receptionist, who was an elderly lady with short, gray hair and blue eyes wearing a purple flowered dress and purple heels. The receptionist told him that it'd only take two minutes before someone came in to call him to get his picture taken for the license so he figured he'd simply stand by the wall and wait. The lady sort of fibbed on the two-minute waiting period thing, he found himself waiting fifteen, long, minutes before someone finally came out to call him into a room.

"Sit theh soor," the man who had called him into a fully white room that had a brown desk that had one of them laser computers; a computer that's keyboard was laser-projected on the desk and that had a laser-projected purple touch screen in a black frame, a camera that was connected to the computer and a blue backdrop in it. There was a simple, black chair placed just in front of the backdrop, Bile went towards it then sat down. "Smile, meestaah Bile."

He was glad to be out of the room and away from the quick-quick, let's get you in here then out of here fast man and the elderly woman that told people that it'd be only a two-minute wait when it really would be a fifteen minute wait before they were called in. His new identification card was made up, he paid the five dollars that the lady at the desk said he needed to pay then he took the card and walked out of the room. He stuck the new card into his wallet, right in front of his fake I.D. which he was going to keep regardless of getting an actual, non-fake, identification card, then he walked on up to where he thought the stairs would be. He received a shock when there was no hint of stairs in the entire building, he found that if he wanted to get to the other levels he'd have to take an elevator a few minutes later when he asked a passing human where the stairs were. He found an elevator, got in then he pushed the button that had a 2 on it. He stepped out of the elevator a few seconds later then started making his way down the hallway, he went into the the sixth room on the hallway about a minute later.

"You're him aren't you?" a woman who had long, brown hair and hazel eyes asked him after he had done the forms that the receptionist had given him after he had explained why he had come to the room. The woman was standing, it looked as if she had just come into the room herself, she had a folder in one of her hands.

"Him who?" Bile asked in a playful way, this question he was quite use to. Just like his encountering some humans who were ignorant or stubborn in thinking that since he was Master Vile's young son that he was evil the question of 'you are him aren't you?' was one that he was asked a lot.

"Bile Vile, the elder son of Angel Irene." the woman said, Bile noticed that she left out his father's name which he was pretty happy about.

"Yes,"

"Thought so," the woman sat in the vacant chair that was beside him.

While he waited for what seemed like forever to be called he learned a bit about the woman who had seated herself being him. Her name was Dorothea Pawlitzki, she was in her late twenties, she had a young daughter that was five years old and she was working on getting a divorce from what she called a "dead-beat of a husband". Her driver's license had lapsed, she was in need of a new one and that was why she was in the building. Bile told her a little about his current life, he said that he was living in Germany now with his family and that they were happy and settling in and that he had a new brother who his mother had adopted six months, two weeks and four days ago. Dorothea commended his mother, she asked a few questions about his adopted brother which he answered then they went into a quiet spell. She had a newspaper with her, she opened it up and began reading it after they had done their talking. On the front page was an article on his father, since he had already read the morning's newspaper he didn't need to ask what the article was about.

Dark Dad had been spotted making his rounds of Europe and Asia the day before, he and three of his staff had been seen walking on the other side of the shields just looking in, doing nothing more than walking then gazing into the shields. It had been noted that each of the three men that had been accompanying his father the day before had had notepads and either pens or pencils in hand so it was believed that his father had given the order to the three men following him to do an "inventory" of what all the population in Europe and Asia was. Dark Dad, as he called his father, had also been spotted near Elchesheim-Illingen but he had not been able to see much because he had been on the west side of the Rhine river - which was just as heavily overgrown in tree, bushes and other forest-like foliage as the east side of the river was. His mother had read the paper that morning before putting breakfast on the table, Lhaklar had been given the paper next since he had been so interested in it and it had been through him that they had found out what his father's doings the day before. Their mother hadn't seemed very concerned about how close his father had been, she had said that since nothing had happened after his - and her - father had been sighted on the other side of the Rhine river they were still safe. Mr. Leinart, as if on que, had called to reassure her a few minutes before she went off to work that they were safe.

Mr. Leinart was a constant caller of theirs now it seemed, he called their number once or twice a day to just chat, their mother said that he was just being friendly and that he was just being a friend to them when they had asked why he was calling so much. Their mother had gotten a new cellular sometime after getting off of work the day before, she had given Mr. Leinart her cellular's number before saying that she had to go or else she'd be late for work. He and his brothers also had that number, they had been given the number before anyone else so they had all known that it was still them that was heavy on their mother's heart and mind; she always gave them her cellular number before anyone else was given the privilege of having it. There had been no questions asked of why she had given Mr. Leinart her cellular number, since she had already said that he was a friend of theirs they had accepted that he would probably be given her number. Bile did something that he hadn't done in a long time, he slid his body down some in the chair that he was sitting in so, instead of sitting in it straight-backed he was sitting in it in a slouched down fashion that was both comfortable yet uncomfortable at the same time. The way he was sitting said it all for the people that were seated in the room with him, he was bored to death of having to wait for an unknown amount of time before being called in to do what he had come to the building to do in the first place. The clock in the room said that it was 9:45 am, he felt like he had been in the building longer than twenty-two minutes. It felt more like hours since he had walked in through the sliding glass door. Bile yawned unconsciously into the crook of his arm then he sat upright in the chair, he began to wish that he had brought something to read with him before leaving the house. There was a stack of magazines near him that he wasn't interested in, they were all female-related magazines; either pregnancy magazines or garden magazines or magazines on women's health that he had no interest in whatsoever. It was either he sit and wait it out until he was called or pick up and read one of the magazines that were in a pile near him. He decided to man up and do the former rather than the latter.

"Hey sexy," a blonde haired woman wearing fish net stockings, black heels and a seamless side sash mini dress that had red sequins on it and that had a low-cut down the front said to Lhaklar as he walked by. Her companion, a black-haired woman that looked to be in her forties who was wearing one of them school-girl outfits non-shyly grabbed Lhaklar's rear then gave Guyunis's rear a nice slap which made him turn towards her.

"You're best to ignore humans like them," Lhaklar said after he had grabbed Guyunis's arm, in order for them to continue walking down the street he had had to pull Guyunis away from the two women. "they're cute and all but it's a good bet that they carry all sorts of diseases on them from Gonorrhea to HIV to the warts."

"Why are we here in this part of the city again?" Guyunis asked, having his ass slapped by a woman had unnerved him a little.

"Nothing really. Just walking around, taking in the sights and getting an idea of what the city looks like." Lhaklar replied.

The city that Lhaklar and Guyunis were in had been founded by Charles III William; the then Margrave of Baden-Durlach in the 1700's, on June 17, 1715 after a dispute had occurred between the citizens of his capital, Durlach. The city had been founded very similarly to the construction of the Karlsruhe Palace; a palace tower had been constructed at its center with thirty-two streets radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel, or the ribs of a folding fan. Lhaklar had read somewhere in a book once that because of the city's layout travel was only possible along the radial streets and along the circular avenues that were around the center of the city. That same book that he had read had said that the center of the city was the oldest part of town, it lay south of the palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the radial streets. The central part of the palace ran east-west, with two wings, each at forty-five degree angles, directed southeast and southwest or parallel with the streets making the boundaries of the quadrant defining the city's center. The market square, which was where they had started out in after teleporting to the city, lay on the street running south from the palace to Ettlingen. The market square had the town hall, called the Rathaus, to the west, the main Lutheran church - or the Evangelische Stadtkirche - to the east, and the tomb of Margrave Charles III William - which was in a pyramid right in the center of the Market Square, resulting in Karlruhe being one of only three large cities in Germany where buildings were laid out in the Neoclassical style. The area north of the palace was park and forest. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; founded in 1825, Wildparkstadion, and many residential areas covered the area east of the palace where once gardens and forests had been at one time in the past. From what Lhaklar could see, most of the streets that had been built in 1715 were still around.

There was an oil refinery to the south, a zoo in the east and several museums, parks and libraries in the city but what Lhaklar was mostly interested in was the shopping areas of the city. Before World War III there had been four shopping areas in the city, now there were just two but they were both impressive in both size and what they offered to the tourists that were either traveling through or visiting the city. There was nothing but three miles of shopping stores right in the center of the city, the one that was on the eastern side of the center of the city was called the Kaiserstrasse while the one that was on the western side of the center of the city was called Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center. The Kaiserstrasse was probably the one that was more visited by the tourists that decided to come to the city. It was the main shopping spot for tourists for a very good reason, it was brimmed with retail outlets, shops, cafes and snack bars and restaurants. Part of Kaiserstrasse had been the old Post Galerie Shopping Center, after WWIII the Post Galerie Shopping Center had been found to be in very bad need of repair and since funds for rebuilding the area had been low it had been decided to combine it with Kaiserstrasse. The mall had been rebuilt sometime after WWIII thanks to the combining of the two shopping areas and it was still going strong to that day as were the other shopping venues.

Lhaklar and his adopted brother had appeared right in the center of Karlsruhe between Kaiserstrasse and it's sister-shopping area, the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center, they had walked off towards the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center soon after appearing in Karlsruhe and, so far, they had only had to deal with a handful of grabby female humans wearing revealing or skin-tight clothing. The Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center wasn't really what one would call a bad place to be but it wasn't really what one would call a "family friendly" type of tourist shopping area either. The Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center was a mile and a half stretch that had nothing but shops featuring items like handicrafts, furniture, designer products, bike gear, sailing and outdoor equipment and clothing and jewelry shops, cafes and restaurants with the Ettlinger Tor Mall situated near the start of the shopping area. What made the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center not like the Kaiserstrasse was the fact that there was a section of nothing but bars and strip joints, all located right in the center of the shopping center and all boasting a questionable clientele. Like the Kaiserstrasse and the Post Galerie Shopping Center, the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center had also been combined with the Sudliche Waldstrabe shopping area of Karlsruhe after World War III but the combining of the two shopping areas had not been fully based on saving dollars on repairs, the humans in control of the country had figured it a good idea to do in saving space and resources and, yes, saving dollars in building and street repairs.

Karlsruhe was a right big city, it was technically the second biggest city in the state of Baden-Wurttemburg but from what all they had seen or heard of or had read in the books they were close to disputing that claim and the reason for that was because it was a city with two, big, malls, several gardens, museums, a forest and several parks and two shopping centers in it. Both Lhaklar and Guyunis had had to stop and gawk stupidly after teleporting to the city for nearly four minutes, neither had seen a sight so big, or so antique, in their lives.

"And I thought the old down town area of Green River, Wyoming was crazy!" Lhaklar said after he had wrestle his way through three scantily clad women. "Broads all over the pl-..."

"Give me that!" Lhaklar stopped then turned around, he walked over to Guyunis after he saw his brother snatch something out of a red-haired woman's hand. Guyunis grabbed Lhaklar after retrieving the unknown object from the woman that his older brother had just walked by then he twisted him around to facing forward, Lhaklar walked forward after being firmly pushed from behind.

"Guyunis, what in the worl-..."

"You should really keep an eye on your bac-k-k-side, bro." Guyunis said as he pushed the wallet that he had seen the red-haired woman snatch out of Lhaklar's back pocket into his brother's hand. "She took that from you while you was walking-k by her."

"Damn!" Lhaklar cursed, he stuffed his wallet into the front pocket of his cream-colored pants then he walked on. "Lesson learned, that happened with both me and Bile in Green River too once. Thanks, G for catching that one."

"No problem." Guyunis said. "Humans are natural thieves it-k seems. Can't-k keep their hands to themselves."

"True, but I think that goes double for any species in the universe as well." Lhaklar said.

They walked on, passing several small restaurants and cafes and then one clothing store before coming to the bars and then the strip clubs. There were about five bars in the center of the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center, one of them was an upstairs/downstairs bar while the others were all single-level bars. All of the bars had someone standing just barely out of view on the inside of the door and all of the bars had large front windows on them. Lhaklar walked by each of the bars that he and his adopted brother came upon, the urge to go into one of them to check it out from the inside was strong in him but he had business to tend to before he could even let himself do a little "free" exploring of the city. His whole reason for coming to the city of Karlsruhe was to check out the strip clubs, since his mother had given him permission to go get a job he figured he'd best look for a job where he had experience in and since he had four years of being a male stripper, or dancer as he called it, under his belt he figured that checking out the strip clubs was the best thing to do in looking for a job.

He had told his mother that he was going to look for a job in a mall, a place where money was sure to be spent and where the pay was expected to be better than decent. She had said for him to be careful then she had wished him luck, if she had known that he was actually looking at the strip clubs that were in Karlsruhe she would have flipped and he might well be running all over the inside of the house and then outside the house with her chasing after him with either a dish towel or worse, something that would hurt his body badly and that would traumatize him emotionally and probably mentally for a week or two. He loved his mother way beyond any words, his love for her had not definition to it and he hated lying to her about his doings but when it came to working for a living he didn't much want to have any old job where the pay was questionable and where he wouldn't be happy in what he was doing. The pay in being a stripper was very good, a stripper - or a dancer, as he called people who stripped off their clothes then danced on a stage for a living - could make well over three hundred a day, or night. If he was employed as a male dancer for one of the clubs that were in the center of the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center of the market square in Karlsruhe he might well be bringing home anywhere between $300 to $600. He was going to try his best to adhere to his mother's order in working part-time, he was going to try to keep the Monday, Wednesday and Saturday workday schedule that he had had when living in Green River, Wyoming and he was also going to do his damnedest to keep the daytime work hours as well.

He had made some calls the night before, he had taken the cordless phone upstairs to his room as his mother had been making supper, Guyunis had unexpectantly been at her side learning the basics of how to cook so he had figured that that was the best time to sneak off with the phone to make his dangerous calls. There were six strip clubs in the section of Karlsruhe that he and Guyunis were in, he had called all of them last night to ask some basic questions like if the owner had any spots open on the stages in the establishment or if the owner employed male dancer and what the cost for the use of the stage in the building was. Of his six calls, out of near forty-five minutes of worrying that his mother would find the phone missing and would begin her rounds in asking who had it or where it was, he only had two places of hopeful possibility. One of the strip clubs that was possible job number one was called Die Gute Wendung, in translation that was The Good Twist. The man who owned the business said that he employed both men and women and that there were five places open at the time of his calling and that it was $30 to use the stage. The business was open from early morning, like 5:30 am, to 9 pm. He had been about to decide on that strip club as his new place of work when the owner had said that the men could watch the male dancers whenever they wanted, they could travel to the side of the building where the men did their dancing and the male customers also had right in asking the male dancers for a little private session if they wished it. Being that he was as straight as could be he had decided that the Die Gute Wendung was not the best of places for him to work at, he had decided to make one more call and that had been to the Die Fetzig und Hastig; in translation, The Hot and Hasty.

The owner of the Die Fetzig und Hastig, or The Hot and Hasty, had told him over the phone that there were always two or three slots open for part-time dancers and that the place was clean and well organized which he liked a lot. There were multiple stages, or stands, with poles or that were just bare and there was also a few crib-like areas in the center of the establishment that were for the experienced dancers that wished to gain a few more bucks for their shakes. Unlike the other strip joints in the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center the Die Fetzig und Hastig had several bouncers watching the front and the back and there was a bouncer always stationed outside the front door that asked for any and all weaponry; like knives or guns or anything else that could penetrate the skin or hurt someone inside the building, to be shown and then handed over and, naturally, for an I.D. to be shown. The back section of the joint was dedicated to the bar, it was kept stocked all the time the owner had told him, and there were tables and chairs all over the floor. The owner said that her office was situated in the far corner of the building, the door was always left open so if any of her employees wanted to come in to speak with her they could without knocking. The owner, a woman named Janina Duerr, said that her establishment was only for female customers and that she employed only male dancers and that the bouncers were on orders to let only women into the establishment to witness the dancing of the male strippers. Miss. Duerr had sort of sealed his want to work at the Die Fetzig und Hastig with that line; no males to watch him dance, no male customers to make him feel nervous or embarrassed and no males to ask him for some alone time. He was perfectly fine with people who preferred their own gender as a partner but he had no wish in having a male's eyes gaze at him lustfully or in having a man ask him for a private session in one of the back rooms.

"Uuuuhhh... think I'll leave you hear, bro." Guyunis said after Lhaklar had stopped at a blue building that had light blue paned windows that had the words Die Fetzig und Hastig on them.

"You sure? I'll only be a few minutes." Lhaklar said, there was a medium-blue carpet running about three feet from the door, a round, blue marquee awning was over the blue carpet. Guyunis nodded his head uncomfortably after he noticed the big African-American man wearing a blue shirt, black pants and black shoes standing by the front door of the building. "Ah-... well, alright then. I'll see you later then. Take care of yourself, stay out of trouble."

Guyunis watched as Lhaklar walked down the medium-blue carpet confidently, when his older adopted brother reached the big African-American man he dug his wallet out from the pocket he had put it in a few minutes ago. Guyunis saw Lhaklar hand the man a square of plastic that had some wording on it and a photograph on its left side, the man looked at it then nodded his head, after his adopted brother had been handed back the plastic square he went into the building. Guyunis shuddered, he had said that he wouldn't speak of what all his bruders did when they were out of the house and when they were away from mum and he did intend to keep that promise but it seemed so strange that one of his older bruders was a stripper and it seemed even stranger that Lhaklar had gone into a strip joint right in front of him. The big, African-American man said something to someone that Guyunis couldn't see then he walked down the medium-blue carpet, Guyunis began to move off down the street just as the man reached the end of the carpet. He wanted no trouble from any humans, he had just been standing in shock in front of the building that his brother had just gone into. The big, African-American man smiled slightly, nodded his head then he turned and went back to standing at his post while Guyunis walked on down the street.

All the while that Guyunis was readying himself to teleport to Elchesheim-Illingen, and just as Lhaklar was approaching the open office that was occupied by the woman who owned the Die Fetzig und Hastig, a pair of blue eyes followed him. The pair of full, blue eyes had seen him and Lhaklar only a few moments ago after they had stopped in front of the Die Fetzig und Hastig, the being who owned the pair of full, blue eyes had a black box that had a glass lense on its side in its hand that it had started using right after seeing him and Lhaklar walk into view. The being that was watching him as he walked along the street away from the strip joint that his older brother had just walked into was pressing the index finger that was on its left hand down on a button that was on the top of the black box crazily. Guyunis couldn't see the being that was following him but the being could see him very well and the reason for that was because the shield that was around the city of Karlsruhe was very close to the center of the city and the being that had seen both Guyunis and Lhaklar had taken advantage of that closeness. The being that had the full, blue eyes and the box that had the glass lense on its front left the area in a rush right after Guyunis had teleported to the town of Elchesheim-Illingen, just as Lhaklar was walking into Janina Duerr's office the being that had taken advantage of the how close the shield was to the center of the city appeared on a dark beach that was in Florida.


	13. Part 2

"So, you've gone from living a life of extravagance and pride to cramped and dull I see."

He stopped, the door to the bungalow that he had been living in for nearly a month wide open, the sand blew into the small building with the oncoming storm's breeze and the air, which was already so electrified due to the approaching storm, seemed to grow thicker and more explosive with each second that he simply stood and did nothing. He had a rule when it came to visitors, an important one that he had learned from his own parents when he had been a right young kid. All visitors were to either call or send in a letter that included a warning that they were coming over, he typically either turned all unexpected visitors away when they came up on his doorstep or he gave the order that the door not be opened or the visitor be addressed. He couldn't do that with this visitor, this unexpected visitor was seated in the small kitchen of the bungalow, she looked to have already made herself feel at home and that sort of pissed him off. Master Vile grumbled under his breath, he moved the green folder that he had in his left hand over to his right hand before turning to close the door. The floor that was in the bungalow's kitchen had a good layer of sand on it now, he'd be giving either Lynster or Galong the order to sweep it all out after he had seen to his unexpected visitor. With the door closed Master Vile turned back to facing his visitor, the bungalow was dark because of the oncoming storm so he had not been able to see her very well when he had first noticed her.

There was a an oil lamp on the table that was in the center of the bungalow's kitchen, it had oil in it but it wasn't lit which surprised him. The storm had been coming in for nearly an hour now, it had been growing darker by the minute outside so the visitor that he had should have had the common sense to turn the thing on. His visitor was a female, he had no doubt on that one because of the voice. It was feminine, soft and comforting with a touch of sternness added in for flavor. Master Vile walked forward, he placed the green folder down on the table then he reached forward, he turned the dial on the oil lamp once then he found himself snickering. The female visitor that was in the bungalow that he had resided in for nearly a month, that he had slept in and had taken his meals in and had done his torturing sessions on the Secretary of the Press woman, Mrs. Caroline Louise Roberts, was none other than his uncle's own mother; Ashaklar Zoopray who, sometime after divorcing his grandfather had gone and married a farmer and miner named Cheshire Ubalki.

"What is your purpose of trespassing on my planet, woman?" he demanded in a very foreboding voice.

"You don't scare me one bit, Vile." Ashaklar Ubalki, nee Zoopray, replied.

"What are you doing here?" Master Vile demanded again. "You have no purpose here, you have received no permission from me to be on this planet. Why are you here?"

How his grandfather, DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit, had managed to be attracted to or had been able to stomach the idea of mating with the woman that was seated in front of him was beyond him, she looked nothing special and she didn't really look promising in the bed department or in the child-bearing department either. The woman, Ashaklar Zoopray, was of the Zetakin race, she was a tall woman who had dark blue skin and a nice, trim and petite body that had medium-sized breasts that made her look slightly off-balanced. Her upside down, teardrop shaped face had two, large, oval sized, silvery eyes in it, there were two holes were a nose would normally be and her mouth was O-shaped. Her long arms ended in hands that had suction cups on the tips of each finger. Ashaklar Zoopray, the mother of his uncle; TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit and his aunt, QeetaVile Tintissi Surfeit, was wearing a long, blue dress that was closed on the front. She had blue heels on her feet, there was a blue sapphire and diamond necklace hanging down from around her neck. Master Vile saw the woman in front of him as delicate, not worth any real man's time and not really deserving of the title of Conqueror's Mother. Her whole physique looked so delicate and fragile to him, he saw himself now, reaching over to grab her arm only to hear bones breaking or snapping. Ashaklar Ubalki, who had been born Ashaklar Zoopray and then had married and acquired the name Surfeit before dropping it after she and his grandfather had gotten a divorce, remained quiet for a short while, she simply stared at him with them expressionless, oval-shaped, silvery eyes of hers, it was only when he was about to ask her again why she was there in the bungalow that he had claimed as his temporary residence that she spoke up.

"To see what you are up to and why you have not been helping us look for Angel or her sons." Ashaklar said in a cool, calm fashion.

"You have no business in asking or wondering of my activities." Master Vile snarled.

"No, but I do have business in wondering where Angel and her four boys are." Ashaklar replied.

"You have no business in wondering or asking about my daughter-mate either."

"She is my son's wife, his Universally chosen mate and the mother of his children." Ashaklar said. "That makes her my daughter-in-law, Vile. A member of my family. I have plenty of right in asking and wondering about her."

"She is no member of your family, never has been and never will be." Master Vile said.

"She's married to my s-..."

"She is not married to Tazir!" Master Vile roared just as a crack of thunder was heard. He slammed his hands down on the table then he leaned forward, he saw Ashaklar's not moving an inch as a challenge which angered him more.

"You don't scare me one bit, Vile." Ashaklar said, again in that calm and cool way. "What's in that folder that you came in with? Important conqueror stuff or-..."

The fear leaped out at him after he swung his hand at her, Ashaklar had been sitting in the chair at the table one second then she had gone flying out of it the next. Now she was on the floor, one leg crossed over the other, her hand placed tenderly across her right cheek and her large, oval-shaped, silvery eyes held wide open in shock. He stood up then he walked around the table towards her, she scrambled to her feet then found herself falling back over after he had given her a firm shove. A laugh escaped his lips, a smile spread across his face as he lunged to grab her arm. Ashaklar Zoopray, who had once been his grandfather's wife and who had bore his grandfather two kids, made a noise then she swung her arm up. Master Vile saw the shine of silver then he found himself taking two steps back. He touched his left cheek, it felt warm and wet, when he took his hand down from his cheek he saw that there was blood on his fingers. The little bitch who was on he floor in front of him had dared to come to his planet without permission had assaulted him, she had had the nerve to swing a silver wand at him that had cut him. Master Vile roared as he jumped at the woman, he grabbed her around the neck when from the corner of his eye he saw movement. He had no more released his grip around the woman's neck before finding himself being struck by a yellow energized beam. A Goblin walked out from the one bedroom that the bungalow had in it, another uninvited guest who had not received permission to walk his planet had been lying in wait only a few steps away.

"Should I zap him again, Mrs. Ubalki?" the Goblin asked fiercely.

"No, only zap him if it's necessary." Ashaklar said as she stood up.

"You two leave my planet at once!" Master Vile bellowed angrily. "Leave it and don't come back, you have no permission of mine to be here and-..."

"If my daughter-in-law is on the planet we are allowed to be here." Ashaklar said, she snatched the green folder up from the table. "Let us see what you have hidden in here shall we."

She let the Goblin who her son had asked to accompany her take care of the man who had harmed her as she opened the green folder. For the past seven months she and her family had been searching relentlessly for Angel and her sons while the man that she had decided to pay a little visit to had done nothing but continue his life, her entire family was extremely angered at the man as was her oldest son and his family. Ashaklar took a few steps back after opening the folder, she had anticipating her son's nephew snapping up then trying to run across the room to grab the folder from her and possibly swinging his fist or the back of his hand at her afterwards, the Goblin reacted quickly in swinging his fist out. A blue energized stream struck Master Vile in the chest and sent him flying almost through the open window of the bungalow, Ashaklar struggled to retain the laugh that threatened to come out. Just the idea of seeing Master Vile, the man who had fathered her daughter-in-law and her daughter-in-law's oldest child, flying out the open window that was in the kitchen was hilarious to her. The Goblin, her son's Most Trusted employee, had been given specific instructions by her son. He was to be as persistent, mean and nasty as he could be in both protecting her and in putting the man who was her oldest son's nephew in his place.

What had the man done to deserve such treatment from her tag-along and from her? Well, besides possibly saying something that had spooked her daughter-in-law to collect her sons then flee from all of them again he had hurt her in the past. He had put marks on Angel Irene's back, he had very nearly killed her once and he had attempted to kill both of her older sons which Ashaklar was glad the Universal Gods had not allowed to happen. She loved Bile just as much as she loved Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer, even though Bile wasn't her grandson by blood she accepted him like one and she treated him like one and she loved him like one. If Angel had ran off because of something her father had said to her, again, everyone on both sides of the family from hers to her son's would understand. Ashaklar's throat tightened up slightly at the memory of how her son had been after he had discovered that his wife and sons were missing on the early morning of January the 28th. He had been a mess, her son who was usually so calm, cool, collected and calculating had turned into an emotional mess.

He had done the interviews on his family and staff as well as he could have without letting his emotions get the better of him, he had lost control of his emotions after he had told nearly everyone in his house that had come over for their extended stays to pack up their things and then leave. He had started crying at once after sitting down in his office, he had weeped out all the stress that he had been feeling over the three months that his wife and sons had been back to living in his mansion home and he had weeped over the fact that his wife and sons had again disappeared from his residence for all of two hours before calming down. She, as his mother, had been concerned but she had let him be alone, she had thought that he'd be okay after he had let all the emotional stress out of his system but that had not happened. What had happened next after he had come off of his weeping spell had been a shock.

He had come very near to firing ten of his staff, one including Eldass Zultoa, his second Most Trusted employee and the oldest Goblin in his service, and he had come very close to asking her and her family to both leave his residence and to take Eshal with them. Eshal, her oldest grandchild, had been an emotional wreck as well but she had not been as emotional as her father who had very nearly lost control of his sanity. The day after Angel and her sons had disappeared word had reached her son that the riots on Axalwen had escalated, the leaders had started taking people that were loyal to her son captive and the leaders had been trying to overthrow his rule on the planet. Her son had reacted in a very violent fashion, he had ordered a thousand of his Goblin troops to the planet and then he had teleported to the planet to lead them in a mini-battle where he had let the rest of his emotional and all of his mental stresses out. The leaders of the riots had been captured within four days after a furious battle had happened, her son had beheaded them himself with his sword and then he had ordered that everyone who had participated in the riots be captured and thrown over a cliff into an ocean which his troops had done obediently. He had set his government back up on the planet afterwards, had appointed new officials, had made up some new laws then he had come back home. He had rested up for three days, had gone back to his usual self which had been such a relief to her then he had started the process of looking for his wife and sons.

The papers all said that her son had turned Moas upside down in looking for his wife and their sons and that was true, he had given an order to both his staff and to five hundred of his troops to search the planet for Angel, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer and they had done so. He had searched the moons that orbited the planet while she and her family had started looking for Angel and her sons in the Zeta Reticuli system. Her son had been very aggressive in asking people if they had seen his wife and sons and her husband and Efagti, her and her husband's oldest son, had done the same while she and the rest of her family had searched and asked questions in a calm and polite manner. Her husband, Cheshire, and Efagti, had been arrested for their aggressiveness, they had spent all of four days in a jail cell before Tazir had bailed them out. The male members of the Surfeit family had joined in on the search for Angel and her sons soon after Moas, the moons that orbited Moas and the Zeta Reticuli system had been searched, Master Vile had even joined in... for a few months then he had dropped out of the search to go conquer campaigning on Earth.

She, her family, Tazir and the others in the Surfeit family all found that very odd about how Master Vile had up and dropped out of the search for his daughter. He had searched for Angel and her sons for two hundred years after they had disappeared one thousand, six hundred and one years ago, he had been a decent amount of help in looking for their missing persons then but on this new search he had not been much help at all. He had just handed out fliers for a few hours, had asked a few questions then he had, basically, gone home for the rest of the day while they had walked around planets and moons, had asked questions to anyone that they had happened upon, had handed out fliers, and had answered questions that they had been asked by people who were working for either the papers or for the news. When they had heard that he had "happened on a way into the shields on Earth and had started a campaign in taking the planet under his full control", as the papers so put it, the thought that he had Angel and her sons and that he was using Angel as a means to get into the shields that were keeping the people of Earth and their civilizations safe had crossed their minds. How could he get into the shields on Earth without help? How could he happen on a way into the shields when there was no way into them unless you had a sentient alien species who could get into the shields like a Goblin - a species who could get into anything with very little effort - could? Vile's parents were the only ones keeping up to date on their son, they were constantly on the man about his abandoning the search for Angel and her sons and it was through them that they knew of the man's activities.

"I can do this all day long and not grow a bit tired," Homsi Modulavich, a four-foot six-inch tall Goblin who had brown skin and large, expressive, blue eyes that were set in a very serious face, said, he dodged the sphere of blue energy that Master Vile had thrown at him then he threw a sphere of purple energy that was of equal size as the one that had been thrown at him at the man. Master Vile howled in rage and pain after the purple energy sphere had struck him in the thigh, the man dropped to his left knee for only a second before finding himself flying through the open window of the bungalow that they were in.

"Teach him good, Homsi." Ashaklar said.

The green folder contained nothing much of interest to her at first, there were about ten pages of printed records that detailed the populations that were in each state of the North American continent and then there were two more pages of printed records that detailed the populations on the South American continent held together by a paperclip on one side of the folder. There was quite a lot more material on the other side of the folder, there were four hand-written pieces of paper that had records of what all had been recorded in the population of Europe and Asia and the island nations and there were several photographs that showed what Europe and Asia and the island nations looked like from above. Ashaklar was about to sigh in defeat when she saw a flash of green in one of the photographs, just as she was sliding the photograph out from the folder Homsi leaped between her and Master Vile. The Goblin grabbed the orange stream of energy that Master Vile had sent in her direction then he sent it back. Master Vile ducked to avoid it then he sent an energy wave of purple at the Goblin, Homsi stomped his foot down then he swung his hands up, the roof of the bungalow was blown completely off of the building after Homsi had separated then had sent the two halves of the purple energy wave that Master Vile had sent his way sailing out of harms way.

"How long have you had this?" Ashaklar stepped out from behind Homsi, who looked over at her quickly before turning his attention back towards Master Vile. "This is a photo of my oldest grandson, how long have you k-..."

"I have not had a chance to look through anything that is in that folder so I cannot answer that question." Master Vile said as his chest heaved up and down, he had been caught off guard by the Goblin and he had also not been able to keep himself balanced while he and the Goblin had been fighting.

"Who took this photo?" Ashaklar demanded to know, she held the photograph that she had taken out of the folder out so Master Vile could see it. "Who, Vile?"

Oh how much he loved them days where all seemed to be going well and where you'd be heading home happy turned sour in the snap of a finger. What had he done today before deciding to head to the bungalow that he had claimed as his temporary residence? Get up at dawn, eat a hearty breakfast, shower then head off to the White House to deal with the day's business. He had had to be hard on several of his staff and he had actually had to slap the Secretary of the Press twice for her continued disobedience and disrespect towards him but, all in all, the day had been going well. He had read numerous newspapers, had done a little watching of the news that told of all that what was going on on the side of the planet that he had conquered then he had gone to the oval office to get busy with the day's paperwork.

He had eaten lunch in his bungalow when that hour had come around, his two unexpected visitors had not been there so he had been able to enjoy that meal in peace then he had decided to do a little walking of the cities and towns in Florida and Georgia. The humans that had been in the cities and towns that he had walked through had giving him lots of stares, several had lunged at him and had tried to punch at him but he had sent them packing with a good, left hook then he had walked on. After he had finished his walks he had received word from Lynster, the Claydo had just come back from Gamma-Vile after he had developed the photographs that he had taken that day with his camera. Lynster had asked him if it was the appropriate time to hand over all that he had taken note of; either by hand or by his camera, while scoping out Europe for the ten days that he had told him to remain in Europe. He had given Galong Exadhoo, one of the men that he had ordered to be on Earth after he had conquered North and South America, to scope out Europe as well but the man said he had found nothing. Curiously, Nygiti Meltin and Rourke Ibmhun had also seen nothing of interest. He had ordered them two men to scope out certain parts of Asia right after he had given Lynster and Galong the order to scope out parts of Europe. The only one of the five men that he had ordered to appear on the planet to not receive an order to scope out a specific area in Europe or Asia was Glog Dlahkian, he had it easy as his only job was to prepare and cook his meals.

Due to his being a bit too busy over the past ten days he had told Lynster to just take notes and photographs of what all he saw in Europe, he had told his employee that when the time was right he'd ask for everything that he had compiled. After ten days of scoping out Europe Lynster had asked him if he thought it was the right time to hand over all that he had seen and noted while in Europe and since the day had been so decent for him and since he had had a non-busy day he had said yes. Lynster and he went back quite a long ways, he had a rich trust of the man but he made sure that that trust didn't go but so far. He didn't want to become like his uncle, who appointed the employees that he trusted to ridiculous positions within his house and who told the employees that he trusted all his secrets and who he treated more as friends than as people who worked for him. He trusted Lynster but his trust in the man was only on a professional employer-employee level. Lynster and he did go way back, the Claydo had actually been a member of his father's staff when he had been growing up. The Claydo had been given the job of being his nanny for three hundred years, of looking after him when both of his parents had been required to be out of the house attending important meetings and/or dinners with the officials that his father had put in the chairs that ran the lower forms of the governments on the planets that were in his conquered galaxies. His mother had taken over his keep after three hundred years and Lynster had been demoted to being a simple employee but they had remained somewhat close throughout his childhood and teenage years and he had remembered Lynster after he had been disowned by his father after he had conquered Gamma-Vile; his and his family's birth planet. He had approached Lynster one day when he had been out of his father's fortress home in a cool way then he had asked the man how happy he was with working for his father and then, after he had found out that the Claydo wasn't feeling as appreciated or as happy with working for his father he had asked if the man would consider dumping his employship with his father and work for him instead. The Claydo had said he would, he had quit working for his father then he had started working for him the day after he had talked to him, the rest was ancient history. Lynster had handed him the green folder about fifteen minutes ago, he had said that he had slid the photographs that he had gotten developed over the past ten days behind all the population statistics on the right side of the folder. Most of what was in the green folder that he had had in his hand when he had walked into the bungalow had been the population statistics on the American continents, according to Lynster there were about ten or fifteen photographs in the folder that Ashaklar Ubalki had in her hand.

"My servant," Master Vile replied, he tried to snatch the photograph out from Ashaklar's hand but she stepped back just in time to avoid it being taken from her.

"You've known all this time that they were on this planet?!" Ashaklar exclaimed, she turned and went into the one bedroom of the bungalow. Master Vile watched as she dumped everything that had been in the folder out onto the bed that he had slept in and that he had used when he had raped and then tortured Caroline Louise Roberts a week ago.

The storm outside had started to get right bad, the wind was howling against the four walls of the bungalow, sand was going everywhere, thunder was sounding off in loud spurts and bright zaps of white light came down from the black clouds above. When it started to rain Homsi backed into the room that his employer's mother had gone into, he pulled the umbrella out from under his brown tuxedo jacket then he opened it. He held it over Ashaklar as she looked at the photographs that she had found in the green folder that his employer's nephew had had in his hand when he had walked into the bungalow. Master Vile took one step into the room then he stopped, Homsi had taken a wand out of the inside of his tuxedo jacket, he was holding it at the ready just in case he had to use it. After the Goblin had removed his wand from the inside pocket of his brown tuxedo jacket he and the man who had sired his employer's wife, Angel Irene, and her oldest son, Bile Vile, stared at each other a long time. Master Vile, after a full five minutes of staring at the Goblin, glanced down at the heap of photographs that Ashaklar was sifting through. Lynster had made the backgrounds of the images appear in black and white but the people of interest that were in the photos were in color which he liked a lot.

Just seeing Ashaklar being so close to the bed that he had slept in brought back memories of all that he had done to the so-called Secretary of the Press lady. On the morning of August the 22nd he had decided to do a shaping up on Mrs. Roberts, he had given Lynster the order to bring the woman to his bungalow then to lock the door afterwards and he had done so to perfection. Mrs. Roberts had wandered around the small kitchen for all of ten minutes then she had wandered into the one bedroom where he had been waiting for her. He had been naked, he had already pumped himself up for the act to come so when she had walked by him he had only had to grab her then throw her to the bed. As she had screamed he had ripped each piece of clothing off of her body, he had said nothing to her all the while that he had been de-clothing her, he had just ripped each piece of clothing from her body then he had sunk his root into her hard. For four, long hours he had raped her, he had drawn blood with his fangs, he had dug his nails into her flesh deep, he had made bruises and cuts appear all over her body for four long hours before deciding to remove himself. Before the woman had had a chance to roll off of his bed he had grabbed her wrists, he had tied her to the bed posts then he had stepped away from her.

Mrs. Caroline Louise Roberts had not done a thing of what he had asked her to do for him in finding newspaper articles that had mentions of his daughter-mate in them. She had made all sorts of excuses, had made up lies or had just plain told him that she would not look for the articles which had pissed him off. His torturing of the woman had not only been done to shape up her attitude towards him but also to get some information out of her about his daughter-mate. He had done her up good after he had tied her down to the bed, just the memory of all that he had done to the woman made him grow thick between the legs. He had gone home to his palace on Gamma-Vile the night before August 22nd to get his special black bag that contained all his torturing devices in it, he had set that bag's contents up on the bed slowly so the woman could see what all was coming to her then he had set to work in using them.

The first item that he had used on Mrs. Roberts had been the Fingernail Pullers; a device that would pull ones fingernails out from their fingers in a slow and very painful fashion, and then he had applied the Pinchers - a device that could be applied to either a man's nipples or testicles or to a woman's nipples, the device gave off any degree of pinches from ones that could barely be felt to ones that left noticeable marks. Neither device had worked on the woman so he had gone to using the special made candles that were made of different degrees of heated wax that retained it's heat even after being molded into a stick-form. He had dripped candlewax all over her body, the red candle that's wax's temperature was mildly hot had been dripped on the woman's body first then he had used the wax from the blue candle on the woman next. The blue candle's wax's temperature was just plain hot, the woman had screamed but she had not dropped any clues to where his daughter-mate was so he had gone to using the black candle, that had been made of a wax that made the skin bruise severely upon contact, and then the purple candle that's wax made the skin turn black. When Mrs. Roberts had continued to not spill what she knew of his daughter he had gone to using the white candle, that's wax was hot enough to burn through flesh, on the woman. Surprisingly, even after using all them candles on her Mrs. Roberts had still said that she wasn't going to talk or tell him a thing so he had decided to use the Fingernail Pullers on her toenails, she had no nails on her hands or feet now because of that device. He had burned her with hot coals, had thrown salt water on her, had thrown her into a hole that he had gotten Lynster to dig outside of the bungalow that his employee had filled with ice and then he had used another device on her that ripped a beings hair out, slowly and painfully of course.

After one and a half days worth of torture she had finally whispered to him what he had wanted to know. She had told him about the existence of a few newspaper articles that told of where his daughter had been and what she had been doing before he had gotten into the shield in North America. He had released Caroline Louise Roberts from the bed soon after she had told him what all she knew of his daughter, Lynster had dumped her off on a hospital while he had gone to look for the two newspaper articles that she had spoke of. He had laughed himself hoarse two days ago when she had returned to the White House, she had walked through the White House's front doors in a very stiff and sore way. She had been bald, nail-less and her body had still been full of second and third degree burns and there had still been a lot of puncture marks and cuts and bruises on her. He had found all of that hilarious and he still found that hilarious.

"They all look healthy in these photographs," Ashaklar said. Master Vile blinked his eyes then he shook his head, he had sort of had a black-out moment while he had been remembering all he had done to Mrs. Roberts a week ago. "Where were these taken? Where were they seen?"

"I have no idea, I have not had a chance to look at any of them." Master Vile replied.

"Where was your servant when he took these photographs?" Ashaklar asked. "When did he take these?"

Normally, it'd be Bile's steampunk ringing skull alarm clock that woke them up each morning but on the morning of August the 29th, at exactly 6:30 am, they were aroused not by the usual ring-a-ding-ding of Bile's alarm clock but by a loud bong-bang sound that, at first, everyone took as someone trying to get into the house. Bile, wearing only a white t-shirt and a pair of red and white striped boxer shorts, raced out of his bedroom with a ball bat while Hazaar and Lazeer ripped the doors to their rooms open. Hazaar, whose deep purple rattail was a tangled mess, was wearing only a pair of grey sweat pants, and Lazeer, who was wearing just a pair of brown shorts, stood for a short second inside their bedrooms before coming out into the hallway. Angel, wearing her usual purple cotton nightgown, walked out of her room from across the hallway quickly. She told Lhaklar, Hazaar, Lazeer and Guyunis to remain where they were then she went downstairs. Guyunis, who had nearly rolled out of his bed after the loud bong-bang sound had been heard, had already had his bedroom's door open. He stood in stunned silence for a long time with one half of his dark body still in his bedroom with the other half being in the hallway, he had gone to bed the night before wearing just a pair of light brown cargo shorts that had rips in the knees and in both the inner and outer thighs and that's legs had been cut off nearly to the knee. Guyunis's hair, like Hazaar's, was a tangled mess. After what seemed like forever Angel and Bile both came back up the stairs, the ball bat that Bile had gone downstairs with was now being carried in a non-serious way.

"Could that of been a warning of some kind?" Hazaar asked nervously, everyone turned to look at him. "I mean, like... could it of been the sound of an oncoming earthquake or something?"

"Nothing going on downstairs, no one inside, the doors and windows are fine." Bile said.

"Nothing fell downstairs to make that sound." Angel said. "Everything is like we left it before we went to bed last night."

"Do the lights and everything work?" Lazeer asked, everyone ducked into their rooms to try the light switches. All of the domed lights that were in the ceilings of the rooms turned on almost at the same time. Lazeer heard the tv's in the bedrooms being turned on as well. "A quake would make signal for tv's and phones to go out, right mom?"

"It would disrupt signals for tv's and phones, yes." Angel replied, she disappeared into her bedroom a second later to retrieve her cellular phone. "Lazeer, do me a favor and check on Lhaklar. Is he awake? Check to see if he's alright."

As their mother flipped the top of her light gray cellular phone then started to dial their home phone number Lazeer went the door that went to the bedroom that was beside his own. He knocked on the door twice then, when his older brother didn't answer or say anything he grabbed the doorknob and gave it a twist. The door would only open halfway for some reason, he stepped into the room slowly then his foot hit up against some sort of fabric. Without putting much thought into it, Lazeer slapped the light switch that was beside Lhaklar's bedroom door, he blinked his circular, silvery eyes twice then he looked down to see what it was that his foot had hit up against. Lhaklar wasn't one of them total clean freaks, he did leave piles of clothes on the floor and he did tend to leave games and books and magazines strewn about in the open, when Lazeer saw the pile of clothing that was a foot and a half away from the door he just figured that it was what his brother had worn the day before. He could see it now, he ran the scenario of what his brother did every night before he climbed into bed in his mind quickly. Lhaklar would come into his room, close the door then undress himself from his day clothes, he'd put his night-clothes on then he'd simply toss the clothes that he had been wearing that day either at the foot of his bed or he'd toss them and they'd land right in front of the door. This scenario seemed right for him with that pile of clothes that was just a foot and a half away from the door but, after he took a closer look he saw that the pile of clothes had arms and legs. Tentatively, Lazeer stuck his foot out, he nudged the thing that was a foot and a half away from the door then he received a shock when a mint-green hand slapped his foot away.

"Oh my gosh, someone pinch me good and hard! Lhaklar walked head-first into his bedroom door!" Lazeer broke out in a fit of laughter.

Bile, Hazaar and Guyunis looked into the room that was Lhaklar's, Lazeer had taken a step out of the way for them to see. All three of them broke out in a rash of laughter, Lhaklar was indeed on the floor and it did look like he had walked into the door. He was on his knees, his upper arms were flat against the carpet that was in his room while his lower arms were held up, he was shaking his head and moaning but he wasn't making any attempt to get up. Angel pushed by Bile, Hazaar and Guyunis, she went straight over to Lhaklar to see if he was alright. The first thing that she saw was that he looked quite tired, like he had not slept at all during the night, he had dark green rings around his pistachio-colored eyes. While her lively sons were picking at Lhaklar for his walking into his bedroom door Angel was taking note of the fact that her secondborn son was wearing exactly what he had been wearing the day before; a striped, multi-brown, long sleeve, button down shirt, a pair of brown pants that had a brown belt around the waist, brown socks and brown shoes. The next thing that Angel noticed was the fact that her son's bed didn't look to be slept in and that the window that was in his room was half open.

"Each and every one of you out of here." Angel said, when none of her sons did as she had told them to she stood up. "Now, boys. All of you but Lhaklar leave this room. Go get dressed and ready for the day. Bile, you and Guyunis are on breakfast duty. Hazaar, do not start any fights with your brothers. That goes double for you, Lazeer."

Bile, Hazaar, Lazeer and Guyunis all left the room, Angel closed the door behind them then she turned to look at her secondborn who had dropped to his right side and was now trying to get up to his feet. Walking into a closed door was something that everybody living in the universe had done in their lives, it typically happened more than a handful of times and a majority of the time it left no marks. A person would be stunned, might find him or herself on the floor in shock or might even grab the doorknob, open the door then walk out of the room that they had been in without feeling any effects. A person might not get any marks on his or her face or body from walking into a door, the most damage she had seen from someone's walking into a door was a bruise or two on the face. She wasn't too concerned over Lhaklar's walking into his closed bedroom door, he might get a bruise or two on his face and he would have to deal with the simple, and normal, embarrassment of his walking into the closed door but that was all. Her son looking so tired, the half-open window and the unused bed was what concerned her, Lhaklar knew better than to leave the house after curfew, he knew the consequences of breaking curfew or worse; leaving the house after everyone had gone to bed for the night.

As Angel went over to the traditional country made bed that her son had seen and had left a mark on in the catalogue that Stefan Leinart had given him earlier that month she couldn't help but be glad that the month of August was coming to an end in just two days time. Over the last ten days she had found herself being tested again and again on the patience and understanding thing, she had had to take time out from every day home life to just sit and calm down just to keep from snapping at her sons for the things that they had done or said either inside the house or outside of it. What all had happened in the ten days following her telling her boys to go out and get themselves a car? Well, Bile had refused to drive the car after getting it registered and then getting the license plates made up then put on the bumpers for two days. Hazaar had driven the i8 BMW a few miles on them two days, he had come home on the second day of his driving adventures with two flats. Cha-ching, tires did not come cheap, she had had to purchase two new tires that had cost her a good $300 each. The day after Hazaar had flattened the two tires he and Lazeer had managed to break the living room's two windows, they had been fighting over the remote to the big screen tv that was over the fireplace mantle. The remote had gone flying from Lazeer's hand, it had smashed through the left window in the living room, the other window had been broken after Lazeer had ducked to avoid the punch that his brother had been sending his way a few seconds later. No money lost on that one, she had repaired the windows with her Elemental Water power, Hazaar and Lazeer had been sent up to their rooms for the rest of the day afterwards.

The day after the living room windows had been broken and then fixed up nothing much had happened, it had mostly been a calm and peaceful day for her but she should have been mindful of her boys because they had spent a lot of time either upstairs in Bile's room or down in the basement. She had come home on the 23rd of August to find all of her boys leaving the basement in a hurry. She had thought it odd about their leaving the basement so quickly, and she had thought that Guyunis's coming up from the basement was odd as well because he had remained upstairs in his room when his brothers had done their "meetings" in the basement. She had discovered a large hole in the side of the basement a few hours later when she had gone to get the laundry done, her sons had been working all of that day while she had been off at work on a little project of theirs called a "Son Cave". The hole that was in the side of the basement had a tunnel coming off of it that went to an underground room that was about fifteen feet away from the house. They had used cement that Bile had managed to steal from the dump to keep the dirt from falling into the room and to sturdy the sides of the room and the tunnel up. She had been right miffed at their doing that but she had allowed them to keep the "Son Cave", as Hazaar called it, as long as they didn't do anything that would get her or them into trouble or didn't cause the house to come crashing down.

On August the 24th and 25th nothing really bad happened, her sons had gone to and from the dump to look for stuff to fill their "Son Cave" up with. They had brought an old, brown leather couch home, they had cleaned it good outside, had given it a good spraying with some lysol then they had moved it into their little secret room. A matching brown leather chair, a coffee table and a three-shelf bookshelf had been moved into the room next then Bile and Guyunis had made some torches to put up on the walls of the tunnel and the room before saying that the room was semi-complete. She had figured that they'd be happy and content and not cause any more trouble or headaches after that but, sadly, that had not happened. On the 26th her thirdborn son, Hazaar, had gotten into a fight with Guyunis. Hazaar had been gripped in a moment of his Tempermental Phase at the time and Guyunis had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, Hazaar had snapped at him for taking something out of his room and Guyunis had responded in his own defense which had pissed Hazaar off. She had come home to finding Hazaar trying in vain to patch up a hole in the wall that had been between the dining room and the living room; apparently the fight had gone physical. He had had some bruising on his face and chest from the fight, Guyunis had had some bruises on him as well, but he had been more worried about the hole in the wall than his physical injuries. She had grounded Hazaar for a week after that, she had had plans to fix the hole that he had put in the wall but her "hand-crafty" sons had already made up plans on what to do with the wall that was between the dining room and the living room. She had come home from work the day after to find that the little, six and a half-inch wide hole had been replaced by a bigger hole. Her sons had worked all while she had been at work on making a window between the dining room and living room. Personally, she wasn't very happy about the window being there but she had said that it could remain in the house.

She had nearly lost her cool the day after, which was yesterday, when Guyunis had come home in a depressed funk. Hazaar and Lazeer had been with him but she had not been able to get anything from them on why their brother was so depressed. They had all said that they were going into town, that they were just going to check out a few places then head off to the dump to do some browsing. It had taken her all of three hours of asking before Guyunis had finally told her what was wrong. Apparently, soon after her boys had appeared in Elchesheim-Illingen a group of human teenagers had decided to start bullying them. Hazaar had nearly gotten into a fight with one of the male teenagers who had made fun of his hair and physical appearance, Lazeer had managed to keep Hazaar under control even though the same kid that had made fun of Hazaar's hair and appearance had also been picking on him because of his physical appearance and goggled glass and Guyunis... Guyunis had been picked on by three girls, one of them being Kai Berg who lived on their street. The three girls had shoved him around, had slapped their hands on his backside and arms and had gotten him all pissed off and then Miss. Kai Berg had grabbed Guyunis's blue hoody. Miss. Kai Berg had ripped her adopted son's hoody right off of his head and, when they had seen his facial features, they had said a bunch of things that had really hurt Guyunis's feelings. She had approached a lot of the parents to the kids on their kids' behaviors towards her sons, she figured that maybe one or two of the kids had been reprimanded, the parents of the other kids that had been in the group looked as if they were going to do or say nothing on what had happened. There was something else that had happened the day before but she couldn't quite remember what it was yet, the morning was too young, she had yet to fully wake up and gain her senses.

"You have started this day off very well, Lhaklar. You know the rules that I put down for you and your brothers, you know that after curfew none of you are allowed to go out on the town and you also know that none of you are allowed to leave the house after everyone has gone to bed for the night." Angel said, Lhaklar had gotten up from the floor then he had turned to look at her. "I'm very surprised with you, Young Man. You know better, you're the most mature of your brothers and yet here we are. I make the rules of this house for a reason, it's dangerous to be out at night and you know it. You've seen the programs, you've seen the stories that are run on the news each morning on how somebody is either kidnapped or killed at night and you've also read the same stories in the newspapers, why the hell would you go and disobey one of the big rules that I put down for you and your brothers when you know what happens at night?"

That was the typical talk from a very tired mother who was just waiting for the first word from her disobedient child before erupting and he knew it. He had pretty much known that he was going to be caught that morning in coming home from work, he had just put too much oomph into punching his fists down to make the ground rise up so he'd be propelled up to his unlocked window and then he had been too unbalanced when he had been climbing into his bedroom window not to mention he had been pretty damn tired as well. He had come sailing into his room then he had lost control of his legs, he had practically ran at the door at full speed which he viewed as more than embarrassing. He had been wise enough to spell-send his work bag to the underground room that he and his brother's had built a few days ago but he had not used his brain in getting back into his family's house without making much noise.

He had worried about this happening from the very moment that Janina Duerr had hired him to dance the floor on one of the stages at her strip club ten days ago. He had wanted to work from 8 am to 3:30 pm, he had basically wanted to get off of work thirty minutes after his mother got home from her job but Miss. Duerr had said that she couldn't have him working the day shift. His blood had ran cold in his veins when the woman had said that she'd hire him if he worked the night shift from 11 pm to 6 am, he had thought it over some in her office then he had said okay. He had figured that he could be back home before Bile's alarm clock went out, that he could undress from his day clothes, put his night-clothes on then slip into bed to pull a false sleeping act. He had formulated that plan quick but he had not been expecting Miss. Duerr to also say that he was to be at work on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, he had wanted to work at the club only on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday but she had a want for him to work on them days and he had just been too shocked to say no. His first day of dancing at Die Fetzig und Hastig, or The Hot and Hasty, had been on Friday, the 21st of August and he had racked in a good $280 on that night while he had brought home near $350 the night after that. Naturally, his brothers all knew of his working at the club but they had no idea that he was working the night shift. Seeing his mother seated on his bed, looking at him and expecting him to speak of what he had been doing while out of the house, made him wish that he had just walked out of Miss. Duerr's club right after she had said she'd hire him to dance on her stage floors only if he agreed to do the night shift.

"Untwist your tongue, Lhaklar. Am I to ground you for a month or a year for whatever the hell you had to do after everyone went to bed or-..."

She went on, rolling out the could-be punishments for his being out after everyone had gone to bed while he stuffed his hand down his left pants pocket. With bringing home near a thousand dollars after working for five days he had had the idea of going out to buy his mother something good that would get her off of his back should she find out that he was out after everyone had gone to bed. He had figured it'd be an insurance type of thing; mom finds out that the son went out after bedtime, she gets angry then she mellows down after he says that he only went out to get her something that he couldn't wait on to get for her. His mother might well take one look at what he had gone and gotten her... on the 22nd of August, then say that that was no excuse for his to be going out at night but at least it'd get her to think something other than 'oh, he went out at night to be with a girl' or 'he went out at night to work the night shift' or 'do drugs' or something like that. His mother was just asking him if he wanted her to pop an anonymous call to his father about his being out at night when he dug a black felt box out from his pants pocket.

"You've got a mouth, Young Man. What were you doing out after bedtime? Where did you go and-..."

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you, mom. I know what I did was wrong and I accept any punishment you put on me." Lhaklar said, he cleared his throat loudly then he slowly walked forward, towards his mother. He held the black felt box out at her, she merely looked down at it. "I saw this just before I came home yesterday, I thought you'd like it. I was afraid that someone else would snag it before I did which was why I left the house after everyone went to bed."

She was just collecting her voice to shout out at him, her chest heaved in, getting the air in it that it would need when she would use an authoritive and angry voice at her disobedient son but once Lhaklar opened the black felt box and she saw what it was that the box had inside it her shout sort of evaporated. She struggled to get the anger back, she knew that her not getting angry at her son would only be taken as a go-on to continue going out at night, she knew that she had to remain fast on the issue but that thing in the box had her attention fully. The inside of the box was filled with a green material and right in the center of the green material was a ring. The ring had one of them sterling silver bands that had leaf designs on it, there was a big, purple rock in the center of the band that looked like a genuine charoite and freshwater pearl to her. Angel looked down at the ring, which looked like one of them expensive cocktail rings, then she stood up. Her son took a step back from her then he stood his ground, he hunched himself over sideways then he looked at her with one of the most depressing and pleading set of eyes that she had ever seen.

"Where'd you get that and what did you spend on it?" she asked.

"Perlen und Mehr," Lhaklar replied, he swallowed hard then added, "in Au am Rhein."

"You left the house in the dead of night to go five minutes down the road to the town of Au am Rhein?" Angel gave her son one of them inquiring looks. "You think I'm stupid, young man? It doesn't take all night to-..."

"I left home half an hour ago to go get it for you, it was so heavy on my mind that I couldn't sleep. Before I left I made my bed, I left my window half-open so I could get back in the house without having to use the front or back doors. "Lhaklar said, when his mother lowered one of her eyebrows he looked down at his feet. "I didn't want anyone to worry or to notice that I was gone, I didn't mean to wake everyone up or scare anybody."

"How much was it that you spent on that," Angel nodded her head towards the ring that was still in the black felt box that was still in Lhaklar's hand.

"Two hundred and fifty, the owner had it on sale though. Half off." Lhaklar replied.

"You just had to go gift shopping in the middle of the night and risk getting in trouble and punished to go get that thing?"

"Yes," Lhaklar muttered.

"You're grounded for four days," Angel said, she took the black felt box from Lhaklar's hand as she walked by him. "no leaving the house, you will be getting plenty to do while house-bound." Angel left the room, she started to close the door then she stopped and looked at her son, who had his back turned to her. "You put some fresh clothes on then freshen up in the bathroom before coming down for breakfast."

"Yes, mom." Lhaklar said, when the door closed he let the breath of air that he had been holding in out. A four-day grounding was far better than being grounded for a month or a year, he thought.


	14. Chapter 14

How things traveled so quickly that were discovered had been a thing that had always intrigued him, even after he had started conquering and had made a name for himself he had been intrigued by how fast local, and galactic, gossip traveled. Say someone was found to be cheating on his or her spouse, that'd be spread around the cheating spouses neighborhood and the areas that they frequently visited like wildfire within half a day of its being found out. Say a public official was found to be embezzling money from the government, that would be spread around the governed area or the planet that the government official lived on far faster than a cheating spouse discovery. Natural disasters, plagues and other surprise planetary or galactic or universal happenings were also things spoken of and known quite quickly after their discoveries and what destruction they had left behind after they had either calmed down or dissipated or had moved onto another area. He knew from experience that a planetary or galactic conqueror's accomplishment of conquering a planet or a galaxy was popped on the news within ten to fifteen minutes after the conqueror had showed up and had started his or her business on a planet or galaxy and he also knew that the battles that happened during a conquering and the conclusion of a planetary or galactic conquering were also run within ten to fifteen minutes after they had happened. He was not much surprised that after Ashaklar Ubalki and Homsi Modulavich left his planet that his entire family would be breathing down his neck over Mrs. Ubalki's snatching and then viewing the photographs that his servant, Lynster, had taken over a span of ten days. He had had a feeling that the two would speak on his having the photographs, he had readied himself for it but due to the storm that was slamming itself into the stretch of beach that his old temporary residence had been on he had had to drop that readiness to save what little he had had in the bungalow. He had collected his clothes and his gray stone box that had all the newspaper articles that he had cut out of the newspapers the past six and a half months and the few other items that were important to him then he had left the bungalow right after Ashaklar Ubalki and Homsi Modulavich had left, the two had taken the green folder with them so he had been deprived of a chance to view the photographs that his servant had taken over the ten days he had spent scoping out Europe for a few hours. Ashaklar and Homsi had left the population statistics and the photographs that showed a sky view of the cities and towns of Europe and Asia but they had taken the photographs that Lynster had taken.

The storm that had taken his temporary residence down after Ashaklar and Homsi had left had been given the name of Arabella, it had been categorized as a type three weather system that the humans called a Hurricane. According to the local newspapers and the news reports on the tube, the storm had a one hundred and fifteen mile per hour winds to it plus plenty of rain, nearly every residence near the beaches of southern Florida had been damaged but there were no lives being reported as lost. The storm had started coming in just as Lhaklar had been coming home from work and it had started to get really bad when he had practically ran into his closed bedroom door, effectively waking everyone in the house. Master Vile had moved into a residence up north in Florida that, again, had had a For Sale sign on its lawn. He had ripped the sign up then he had moved in. Lynster, Galong, Nygiti, Glog and Rourke had arrived at the new temporary residence half an hour later, after Lynster had heard what had happened he had gone to his home on Gamma-Vile to get one of the three copies that he had made of everything that he had put in the green folder earlier that day. When he had returned to the residence he had found his employer seated in a black reclining chair, Master Vile's feet had been up on the recliner and he had looked somewhat comfortable. Since the residence had been completely empty of furnishing Master Vile had ordered Galong, Rourke and Nygiti to go to his palace on Gamma-Vile for a stove, a small refrigerator, a couch, a recliner, a kitchen table with one chair and a blow up mattress. Rourke had been the one to bring some pillows and some bedding, he made the bed up well then he had gone off to stand by the wall in the living room. Glog had gone to Gamma-Vile to grab some pots and pans and some cooking utensils and some food that he had figured that his employer would like to eat.

Master Vile had not had a chance to look at the copies of what all had been in the green folder that Ashaklar had taken with her when she and Homsi had left the now destroyed bungalow that he had used as a temporary residence, he had had the folder open and was pulling out the first of the population statistic papers when the black, cordless phone that Galong had brought back from Gamma-Vile had rang. Master Vile had had to endure with hearing his father ranting and raving at him, calling him a disrespectful rat and a heartless idiot that should not have achieved the things that he had achieved in his life. Master Vile's mother had been heard in the background, she had been speaking in Vilian about how careless he was and how ashamed she was of him. He had let them talk, he had not responded to any of their words he had just placed the phone down on the arm of the recliner then had gone on reading the population statistics that were in the folder. After his father had hung his end of the phone up he had placed the receiver on its cradle where it had stayed for only two minutes before being picked up again. In all, he had heard from his grandparents, his great-grandfather and then from the man who was his great-grandfather's uncle before finally deciding to disconnect the phone from the signal satellite that orbited Earth. Ashaklar had let everyone in on what she had found except for one person, she and Homsi were told by an official that was acting as a sort of secretary for TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit that Tazir was conducting very important business on one of his conquered planets and that he could not be disturbed. Even though Ashaklar had told the official that it was very important that she speak with her son and that it was about his missing wife and sons the official still wouldn't let her or Homsi see Tazir so Master Vile was spared from hearing from his uncle for a while.

"When was this taken?" Master Vile asked Lynster, he had a photograph that was mostly black and white in his hand, the only thing that wasn't black and white in the photograph was Lhaklar who, in the photo, had been kept in color.

"The eighteenth, sir." Lynster replied.

"Where?"

"A city in Germany called Karlsruhe, early morning."

Master Vile nodded his head then he placed the photograph down on the right arm of the black recliner, he started looking at the photograph that was underneath the one that he had just viewed. There was a wildly overly overgrown forest in the photograph, he saw lots of trees and bushes, the latter that looked to have thorns on them, and he also saw a river that disappeared behind the overgrown forest. The photograph was mostly of the forest overgrowth except for one area, in the far right side there was the kid that his daughter-mate had conceived via artificial insemination. The kid, named Hazaar, had been conceived after she had seduced him into taking the curse that he had put on her after the older kid, the one named Lhaklar, had been born. The ill-bred kid, as he referred to him and Lhaklar and Lazeer, was swinging himself over a deadfall of trees, Lynster had made that portion of the photograph be in actual color.

"And when was this one taken?" Master Vile asked.

"The twenty-second, sir." Lynster replied.

"Where?"

"Far edge of Elchesheim-Illingen, around noon. Same country, Germany."

The next photograph had all gray buildings in it, a whole row of them so Master Vile knew that Lynster had been hidden outside of a shield that was near a town somewhere in Europe. He saw two food stands, a lemonade stand, a jewelry store and then a building that looked like it was either a cinema or a music studio of some sort. There were humans and gray cars in the photograph, none of the humans in the still photograph looked to have noticed Lynster at all which was good. Like the photograph that he had just viewed, the person of interest that was in the photograph was both in actual color and was in the far right side. The kid, who was actually his daughter's youngest son who had been conceived a hundred years after Hazaar and who had been born premature at six and a half months, was simply walking down a sidewalk beside the road. It was the fact that the kid in the photograph had periwinkle colored skin that made Master Vile think that the kid was his daughter's last born son. The humans that were forever in still-form in the photograph looked to have accepted the kid, none of them were acting hostile or upset over his being around which pissed Master Vile off.

"When and where?" Master Vile said, he turned the photograph over so Lynster could see which one of the photographs he was asking about.

"The twenty-fifth, sir." Lynster replied. "In Durmersheim, Germany."

The photograph that he looked at next made his blood boil within his body, he felt his eyes growing hot within their sockets and he began to breathe a little faster and louder as his line of sight settled on the kid that was in the center of the photograph. It looked like Lynster had been hiding near a dump someplace in Europe, there were piles of junk all over a large span of land and there were two bulldozers and a crane in the far back of the photograph. Except for the kid, everything in the photograph was in black and white, Master Vile was able to see several gray puddles of unknown liquid on the ground and he also saw several cans and other trash that was lying here and there on the ground between the piles of junk. The kid that was in the photograph was none other than his own son, Bile looked very healthy, he looked very much the same and he had a companion with him. The third son that his daughter had given birth to, Hazaar, was in the photograph with Bile, it seemed that they were looking for something in the photograph.

"When and where?"

"The twenty-fourth, sir." Lynster replied in a robotic-like way. "Bietigheim, Germany."

"Did you see them all ten days that you were in Europe?" Master Vile asked.

"No sir, Germany is a big place. I seen them only four of the ten days I was in Germany." Lynster replied. "Six if you want to count the other kid that I saw with them."

The tendons and muscles that were in Master Vile's neck cracked as he jerked his head up after Lynster had spoken of seeing another kid with his daughter's offspring, Caroline Louise Roberts had told him about the two articles at the conclusion of his torturing her that had mentioned a fifth child by his daughter-mate and he had found them two articles sometime later after being told about their existence. He had figured that maybe, just maybe, the humans that had written them two articles had messed up and had added the number five to his daughter's number of offspring but the thought of his daughter having actually had a fifth child sometime after she had disappeared four months after her prematurely born son had been born had also come to his mind after he had read them two articles. The thought that his daughter had been conducting an adulterous affair on both him and his uncle after she and her kids had been captured and then taken to his uncle's mansion had also popped into his brain after he had viewed them two articles. Angel, he had been told, had been making trips to Earth for two of the three months that she had been back living with his uncle. From what he had been told, the trips to Earth had seemed pretty innocent as she had brought back things for her kids and Eshal, his uncle's oldest child from his first marriage but, after he had viewed them two newspaper articles that mentioned his daughter having a fifth child - another son - the thought of her actually making them trips to Earth to visit her lover had surfaced. He could see it now, she'd teleport to Earth first then she would meet up with her lover in some secret or agreed upon location for a night of sex then after they had done their adulterous deed she would attempt to mask her nightly activities by coming home with some stuff that she had either collected or had bought when she had done some shopping for the kids. The masking up of an affair was typically handled that way, if any questions was asked on the whereabouts of a spouse or what a spouse was doing in the time they were away from home an alibi would be needed. He could see her using the "oh, I'm going into town for a while to pick some things up for the kids" as a way to mask up some affair that she was having.

Women were strange creatures, he knew from experience that they acted like a light switch. Happy one minute, sad the next, angry the next, content and happy the next and so forth. One day, they're happy with their lives, they are happy with their marriages, their spouses, their jobs and so forth and the next day they are all depressed and saying things about divorce and about how they wished they'd never of met the guy that they married or that they had never had this kid or that kid with the guy that they had married and so forth. Women who were generally unhappy with their lives did tend to take on lovers, men or women that gave them a sense of happiness in their unhappy lives. Sometimes the spouse didn't know about the affair, sometimes a spouse did but he didn't say anything on it in fear of losing his wife and/or kids and sometimes a spouse got real angry. Of his three marriages he had only had one spouse cheat on him. Ursaline Flaxiwohm had been a right lovely woman, he had liked her quite a lot and he had showed her a decent amount of love, he had thought that their marriage was doing well but then he had walked into his palace and had found her and one of his planetary enemies, a man named Konyx Hapipii, lying in bed together. Finding out by word of mouth about your wife having an affair was bad enough, walking into your house and then finding your wife actually screwing her lover in the marital bed was worse. He had chased Konyx Hapipii out of his palace then he had turned and gone after his wife, he and Ursaline had gotten into a very big fight, she had thrown her wedding ring at him afterwards and then she had left. He and she had gotten an immediate divorce afterwards but the laughs had continued on because, apparently, she had been conducting her affair for some time. She and Mr. Konyx Hapipii had a five hundred and seventy-six year old daughter, he and Ursaline had been married for all of five thousand and twenty-one years so that child had been conceived and then born during their marriage. Another laugh had happened afterwards, the ink had only been a month dry on the divorce papers when his ex-wife had conceived for Konyx Hapipii again, she had given birth to a son nine months later. Angel had been in an adulterous affair with the gray haired man named Atlas of Sclera but he had forgiven her about it, she had had no idea what a Family Mate was at the time that he had claimed her as his and she had been scared and the guy had actually forced her to be in his harem so he really couldn't count that affair as a full affair and he couldn't really count his uncle as one of his daughter's adulterous lovers because, technically, he was her dominant mate and her Universally Chosen Husband. If he found out that she had been having an affair during her back and forth trips from Earth to Moas not only would he be hurt but he'd be mad and he knew that would come double as his uncle would probably experience the same emotions as well.

Master Vile placed the photograph that had his young son with one of the ill-bred kids that his daughter-mate had produced with his uncle down on the arm of the recliner, the muscle in his jaw worked as he looked at the photograph that was underneath the one that he had just looked at. He wasn't really sure what he was seeing at first, the photograph was of the same area that Lhaklar had been seen at ten days before and, in fact, Lhaklar was in the photograph. The oldest of his uncle's sons was standing close to a building, he was interacting with a big human. In the photograph, he looked to be handing the human something and the human looked to be interested in that something as his hand was held out for whatever it was that Lhaklar was handing him. His uncle's oldest son was under a round, marquee awning that looked to be over a carpet, there was wording on the windows of the building but Master Vile couldn't read them because Lynster had been too far from the building to capture them on film clearly. Master Vile pulled the photograph closer to his face, there was a bigger, or closer, being in the photograph that had either been missed in the de-coloration of the photograph or he was the kid, or guy since he didn't much look like a kid in the photograph to him, that Lynster was talking about.

The kid, or guy or whoever it was, nearly blended into the photograph, Master Vile had nearly missed him for a second because of the fact that the being was nearly all black in the photograph. The flesh of the being on down to the pants, of which only went down to just below the being's knees and that looked to have tears in the lower leg and in the upper thigh regions and that's hems looked to be barely attached the legs of the pants in the photograph was black, the being in the photograph had a pair of heavy boots on his feet and he also had some chains on his person that were just barely seeable in the photograph. The only thing that had grabbed Master Vile's attention on the kid, or guy or whoever it was, was the eyes. In the photograph, the eyes of the kid - or guy - were slightly slanted and were a bright yellow color. Master Vile shook his head, he didn't know what he was looking at and he really didn't want to stare at the photograph forever so he placed it down on top of the one that he had viewed before looking at it. The photograph that came after that one made sit up straight, he felt his spine stiffen. Master Vile grabbed the cordless phone quickly after taking one look at the photograph that he had just viewed, he re-connected it to the signal satellite then he started dialing his younger brother's number.

"Hi yo, hi yo, you have reached the house of a Surfeit son. If you are female, get off the phone and come see me. If you are male get the hell off my line and don't call my number again." Master Vile rolled his eyes, Triskull always answered the phone in that way.

"I can imagine all the court cases that you have had to attend because of the 'if you are female, get off the phone and come see me' line that you keep spitting out after answering your phone."

"Not a damn one, it's nothing more than a joke and people that call me know that." Triskull said back quickly. "From the sound of the voice on the other end of my line it's my older brother who's decided to ring me."

"You are correct," Master Vile said.

"Should I be honored or scared that you called me up?"

"Both," Master Vile replied jokingly.

"All my taxes have been paid off in full, no big arrests and I've stayed out of trouble since birth so you have nothing on this Surfeit son."

"Sure as hell no on them taxes, Lil' Brother." Master Vile said, since he was the ruler of the M-51 Galaxy he could void out taxes on himself and certain others that he liked or was close to. Triskull had been getting out of paying $50,000 worth of taxes each year for over fifty thousand years thanks to him.

"What is it that your old ass called me up for? Shouldn't you be off somewhere on Earth doing some all-important paperwork or yelling at some disobedient civilians or something like that?"

"I've got some paperwork right in front of me," Master Vile said.

If a civilian had happened on one of his family's little get-together moments he or she would have been able to find out very quickly how things in the family were handled and who regarded who in what manner. Triskull, at ninety-seven thousand, seven hundred and fifty years old, was still regarded as the baby of the family despite the fact that their parents had had three kids after him. Master Vile didn't need to be told that his mother was right fussy over Triskull, she was fussy over all of her children but she paid particular attention to fussing over Triskull. If Triskull wasn't feeling well and she found out about it she'd say she needed to go to his place to make him up something that would make him better or she'd be on the phone with him asking him questions of how he thought he had gotten ill and if he was okay, if he needed anything and if he needed her all through his illness. If Triskull got injured and she found out about it she'd pop on over to his place to take care of him without letting anyone know. Master Vile found it rather hilarious about how she acted towards his brother, he'd sometimes joke about it with Dara Dara; his younger sister, but he always found the joke being shot right back at him when he was in the company of his grandmother. Dara Dara called him a Grandma's Boy which he probably was, he and his grandmother did have a right close relationship and his grandmother did fuss over him but her fussing was not in the same area as his mother's fussing over Triskull. His grandmother still slipped him a piece of caramel every time they got together, she had started giving him a piece of caramel candy when he had been a very young child and she was still doing it despite the fact that he was one hundred and two thousand, two hundred and fifty years old.

What someone outside of the family would miss was the general change in relationships he had in his parents and the lack of relationship that he had with his grandfather. It was already well-known that he resented his uncle because of his dominance over him over Angel but no one really knew what his relationship was with his parents and his grandfather. He had been right close with his father at one time in his life, he had looked at his father as a sort of hero but then after his father had abandoned him, had disowned him after he had conquered their birth planet that notion had collapsed. There had been some silly agreement that the members of their family that became conquerors would leave their birth galaxy be, the agreement was that the conquerors in the family could conquer any other galaxy or planet in the universe but the birth galaxy had to be left alone. He had thought the agreement was silly, he had gone on and conquered the M-51 Galaxy, starting with Gamma-Vile then moving on to the other planets in the galaxy. In the process of conquering Gamma-Vile he had encountered a lot of resistance, two of the armies that he had encountered had been led by his older, half-sisters while the others had been led by normal generals. After his two, half-sister's had been captured he had ordered that they be thrown at his feet, he had killed the younger of his two, older half-sisters then he had promised the older one a life of imprisonment in his then-unfinished palace dungeon. The surviving, older half-sister had self-banished herself from the planet after being moved to a cell in his then-unfinished palace dungeon, sometime later he had had to endure his father's wrath over his deed of conquering their birth planet and his killing one of his sisters. He had nearly lost everything after he had been disowned, his father had closed down their combined account and he had absorbed the money that was in them combined accounts into his own pocket and he had lost almost all of his family because no one had wanted anything to do with him after he had conquered Gamma-Vile. He had almost lost his first wife, Scordida Vener, as well as she had had a bout of pre-marital fear after he had conquered his birth planet but, luckily, they had talked about the problem and they had gone on to getting married and then having some kids afterwards. Had he of lost Scordida on the day of his banishment he would have probably gone insane, he had loved her so much and he still loved her. The reason why he and his grandfather had no relationship was because he hated the man, he thought of his grandfather as a heartless crook that had conquering and controlling everything too far up his list. He and his great-grandfather had no relationship either and that went double for his great-grandfather's uncle as well.

"My big brother slacking off on the job, never would have thought you'd go and become a slacker." Triskull chuckled.

"Not really slacking, I'm calling to ask you a few questions."

"Oh, well... uh... what are the questions you wish to ask me?"

"Have any kids that I don't know about?" Master Vile asked, his brother was known to be a lady lover. He was single but he liked to bring home a lady from a club or a bar or even from one of the hunting or fishing events that he attended for a night of fun from time to time.

"Hell no!" Triskull near yelled. "Vile, you know me well. I not only use the Utasa spell but I also get the partner that I bring home to sleep with to drink one of them infertility potions with me."

"What type of potion you talking about?" Master Vile asked. "Is it the Unfruchtbar or the Nenzalo or the-..."

"The Rutaba, the potion that makes both partners infertile for nearly a week and a half after consumption."

"You sure none of your past partners have faked the drinking of th-..."

"It's either they drink it in front of me or they leave my offense, you're a good father and you have good kids and all, but I'm taking no chances in being a father."

"Mmmm, okay." Master Vile said, his brother and the older of his sisters had never settled down to having kids of their own. They both claimed that they were not ready for child raising. "When was the last time you was on Earth?"

"November of last year," Triskull answered quickly.

"And before that?"

"What is this, Vile?! The thousand-round question hour or something? Before November of last year I haven't been on your planet in a long time. Not since that sleaze Trakeena fiasco that I was sadly a part of." Triskull now sounded offended and nervous.

"Important question hour is more like it," Master Vile replied. "you and my youngest daughter ever have any fling-a-wings before or after her disappearance?"

"What?"

"Have you and my youngest daughter ever had sex?"

"Hell no! Vile, are you okay? Are you experiencing some sort of fever or something that is clouding your good senses? You damn well know me better! Angel is my niece, she is the daughter and the family mate of my older brother for crying out loud!" Triskull was near to shouting now. "Sure, I think she's right lovely, beautiful even, but I have not nor will I ever sink anything of mine in her. She's your daughter, she's my niece. I'm not our uncle for crying out loud."

"Okay okay, Master Vile said quickly, there was a long moment of silence between him and his brother then he sat forward. "look, I need to head back to work here. Thanks for answering my questions and being a sport over my continual questioning. I'll speak to you again soon."

"Yeah, okay. Later." Triskull said, the brothers both hung up at the same time. Master Vile quickly disconnected the phone from the signal satellite then he sat back in the black recliner.

As Master Vile was returning to looking at the photographs that Lynster had taken ten days before Bile and Guyunis were placing plates of pancakes and eggs down on the table in front of Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer. Hazaar had gone from being a right cheery chap to being rather grumpy, he shoveled the fried egg that was on his plate up on his fork then he dumped it on top of his pancake before starting to eat. Lazeer made a disgusted face at his brother but he didn't say anything, he had gone from being energetic to plain ornery right after getting dressed. Lhaklar remained quiet, he was still embarrassed over waking everyone up after he had walked into his bedroom door. After Bile and Guyunis had placed the plates of pancakes and eggs down in front of their brothers they took to their seats at the dining room table, their mother walked into the dining room just as they had started eating. Lhaklar looked up at his mother nervously then he looked back down at his plate, Angel gave him a pat on the back as she walked by him then she went into the kitchen. On instinct, she went and opened the microwave, she took the plate that she knew Bile had put in the microwave out then she went over to the kitchen table. She sat down quietly at the head of the table then she started eating what was on the plate.

"Who made the eggs?" she asked.

"Made the first three, Guyunis made the final two." Bile replied.

"And the pancakes?"

"The first two I made, Guyunis made the others."

"Kept it simple and easy this morning on the breakfast making or did you decide to be lazy?" Angel asked.

"Ma!" Bile gasped. "I kept it simple because-..."

"Nevermind," Angel said quickly, she pushed her fiery red hair back with both of her hands. "I'm sorry, Bile. I'm a bit agitated at the moment. Sleep not fully woke up."

"_Meow_,"

"Not now, Lazeer." Angel said.

"I'm sorry," Lhaklar said apologetically. "I didn't mean to wake everyone up or-..."

"_Meeoow_,"

"Lazeer," Angel gave Lazeer a stern look then she stood up. She placed a comforting hand on Lhaklar's shoulder, he quieted up then went back to his breakfast. "Let's just try to get through the rest of the day without having anymore mishaps please. Let's try to have a pleasant day, okay boys?"

"_Meeeeeoooow_,"

"Will you shut the fuck up!" Hazaar twisted in his chair, he gave Lazeer a strong shove. The forkful of eggs that Lazeer had been about to put in his mouth flew across the room.

"I'm not doing anything you idiot!" Lazeer kicked his foot up, Hazaar yelled then he reached down and started rubbing his ankle.

"Yes you are! You're making them stupid cat sounds!" Hazaar snapped.

"I am not!" Lazeer exclaimed, he got up from the floor then he looked over at his mother. "Mom, honest, I'm not. I'm not! I'm not making the c-..."

"_Meeeeeeeooooowwwww_,"

"Whoever is making them sounds needs to stop it and now." Angel said, agitation was very clear in her voice. "Lazeer, sit back in your chair. Hazaar, no more pushing your brothers."

"_Meeeooow_,"

"I'm going to start handing out groundings if whoever it is that is making the cat sounds doesn't end it and now." Angel said in an elevated voice. It was quiet at the table for all of ten seconds then the characteristic meow of a cat was heard again, Angel slapped her hand down on the table then she stood up just as Guyunis slid his chair back.

"Sorry mum, I'll take ca-air-re of her now." Guyunis said.

At first, Angel had not a clue as to what the "her" was that Guyunis was saying that he was going to feed. Guyunis went into the kitchen after getting up from the table, he went straight to the refrigerator then, after he had opened the door to the refrigerator he began to rummage around. When he had collected the thing that he was searching for he closed the door to the refrigerator then he walked out of the kitchen and then the dining room quickly. Angel, after she had seen that her adopted son had taken a small can of goat's milk out of refrigerator, stood up. She left the dining room quickly then she went up to the second level, Guyunis's bedroom door was wide open so she just walked right on in to see what it was that he was doing with the can of goat's milk. Guyunis, she saw, was sitting on the edge of his bed. The can of goat's milk was open, it was on his night table. Guyunis was making small streams of the goat's milk rise out of the can with his Elemental Water power, Angel watched as he rose the small stream of goat's milk up, out of the can and then down to the bundle that was on his lap. There was a sucking sound and then there was a hiccup, Guyunis was preparing to make another stream of the goat's milk rise up out of the can when he noticed her.

"Mum?"

"G, what are you doing?"

The question was no more out of her mouth before her waking brain put an answer to it, the day before after Guyunis had come home all depressed after some teenage kids had bullied him she had discovered that he had been keeping a little something secret stashed up in his room. Her discovery of his little secret had been a shock, she had had no knowledge of his bringing anything animal home and most of the reason why was because Guyunis had done a silencer spell on his room to quiet the animal's cries and, also, because the animal had been rather content and quiet when she had been in the house. When her two, younger sons had remained close-lipped on what had happened to make their adopted brother be in such a depressed funk she had gone upstairs to ask Guyunis what had happened to make him come home in such a depressed state. She had just walked into his room without knocking and, through her doing that she had discovered that he had been hiding a baby cat in his room. She had been in such a shock over the kitten's discovery that she had turned and then left the room, she had thought that her eyes had been playing tricks on her but the baby cat had still been in the room when she had gone back in to speak with Guyunis. The three and a half week old kitten that was on her adopted son's lap had been kept secret from her for all of a week, Guyunis claimed that he had found her and her littermate in a box in an alley a week and a day ago and he also claimed that the kitten's littermate had been dead and that the kitten that he had decided to take home had been close to dying herself.

She had asked him why he was in such a depressed mood first and he had answered after a few minutes of nervous throat clearing and stuttering and stammering, after she had found out about the bullying she had comforted him, had told him that it was okay and that she'd talk with the parents of the kids that had bullied him. She had asked him about the cat next, why he had the kitten and what he planned to do with the kitten and if it was he that was taking the glass milk bottles that had her natural milk in them that were missing out of the refrigerator for the kitten. He had told her that he was hoping to hand-rear the kitten, the mother cat had abandoned the cat and her dead littermate and he had also told her that yes, he had been the one "stealing" the milk bottles that had her natural milk in them from the refrigerator. She had figured that one of her boys had decided to have a full bottle of her natural milk all to himself when, for all of a week, she had noticed that a glass bottle of her natural milk would be missing from the back of the refrigerator. She had cringed at the idea of a baby cat getting that milk instead and she had been rather miffed over hearing that her adopted son was wasting her natural milk on an animal but she had understood that Guyunis didn't know what kind of milk was needed for a baby animal. Naturally, since she was producing milk and since she was using a milk pump on herself to get rid of the pressure that her natural milk put on her breasts, Guyunis had figured that any old type of milk was appropriate for an infant animal. Guyunis had asked her after he had explained why he had the kitten and why he was stealing the milk bottles that had her natural milk in them from the refrigerator if he could keep the kitten after he had weaned her and she had had a hard time in saying no.

She had a mild allergy towards cats, if a cat so much as touched her the flesh where the animal had rubbed up against her would turn a red color and then the inflamed area would get slight bumps on it that were itchy. Her allergy wasn't a bad one but it was rather annoying, she could be around dogs and any other fur-covered animal without feeling the effects of her allergy but if she came in contact with a cat she'd get a rash and then she'd start itching. Guyunis, the poor dear, had been in such a funk over being bullied and he had already looked so attached to the kitten that she had had a right hard time in saying that he couldn't keep the animal. Even after she had explained to him about her mild allergy to cats she had still had a hard time in saying that he couldn't keep the kitten, after a few minutes of trying to say no to her son she had finally sighed and said 'as long as you take good care of her, you can keep the cat'. She knew that some people outgrew their mild allergies after being in contact with the thing that caused their mild allergy, although she hoped that that would happen with her in this case she didn't think it would happen because she had been around her grandfather's, her great-grandfather's and her great-great grandfather's cats in the past and she had always broken out in a mild rash after coming in contact with their cats.

"So, when did you get the goat's milk son?" she asked Guyunis.

"Yesterday, before coming-k home." Guyunis replied, he then added in a nervous sort of way. "I-I don't like stealing-k, mum. I heard that goat's milk is good for kittens and I went and got some for her so I'd not be stealing-k from you or my bruders."

"Calm down, G. No need for you to act nervous around me." Angel said, she then looked down at the kitten that was all wrapped up in a blue blanket that was on Guyunis's lap that. All she really saw was a black nose so she figured that the kitten had all black fur on it. "She looks right healthy."

"She is, I take good care of her, mum." Guyunis said.

"Should I start calling you Nurse Guyunis from now on?" Angel smiled warmly at Guyunis. "What'd you name her again?"

"Sabine, mum." Guyunis replied.

"Pretty name," Angel said, she then turned and started to leave the room. "I'll put your breakfast in the microwave so it doesn't get cold, don't you rush in feeding her now. Take it nice and slow so she doesn't get any stomach aches."

Bile and Lhaklar were engaged in a semi-heated conversation on how Lhaklar had walked into his closed bedroom door, waking everyone up and giving everyone a scare when she returned to the dining room. Angel didn't need to be told that the wheels were turning in both Hazaar's and Lazeer's heads because, once she walked back into the dining room they looked over at her then they kept her in their of sight for a long time before deciding to resume eating their breakfasts. Angel took Guyunis's plate up from the table then she took it on over to the microwave, Lhaklar grabbed his plate then he got up from his chair after she had closed the microwave door after she had placed Guyunis's breakfast inside the microwave. Angel watched as her secondborn cleaned his plate of the half eaten pancake and the eggs that he had barely touched then she watched as he quick washed his plate and fork, after he had finished quick washing his plate and fork he left the kitchen and then the dining room. Angel went and sat down in her chair at the head of the table, she had no more picked her fork up before getting the feeling that she was being watched.

How long had her biological sons known about Guyunis's having and keeping that kitten in his room? Had Guyunis kept his little secret to himself or had he told one or more of his brothers about his having the animal in his bedroom? Bile had seemed to be pretty surprised after the kitten had been discovered, so had Lhaklar and Hazaar but Lazeer had acted not a bit surprised. A mini fight had broke out between Lhaklar and Guyunis about the kitten about an hour before she had started making supper, Lhaklar had tried to be the authorative person in the house, he had tried to tell Guyunis to put the cat out and to put the thought of keeping the animal out of his head. Guyunis had tried to stay calm during the fight but, in the end, it had gotten somewhat physical after Lhaklar had given him a shove. She had come in at just the right time to separate them right after Lhaklar had shoved Guyunis across the living room, she had told her secondborn son that she had given his brother permission to keep the cat and that he had no say on whether Guyunis could or could not keep the animal. Lhaklar had gone off on his own after she had told him that while Guyunis had stuck to her side like glue all throughout her making supper. She had sort of expected for the silent, pleading stares to happen sometime soon after the kitten had been discovered and, sure enough, during supper last night both of her younger sons had given her several of them pleading, silent stares.

"I must be the worst mother in the universe," Angel said as she stood up then took a small wad of cash out of her left pants pocket.

"Ma! Never!" Bile gasped in shock.

"You're the greatest mom in the universe!" Lazeer exclaimed.

"Wouldn't want anyone else but you being my momma, momma." Hazaar said.

"I do spoil you boys rotten though." Angel said. "I don't suppose my five sons would grumble over getting their September allowances two days early?"

"Why are you giving us our allowances early, ma?" Bile asked.

"You don't spoil us rotten, momma." Hazaar said, Bile and Lazeer looked at him quickly. "You're a good momma, you spoil us in a normal way."

Angel took out five $50 dollar bills from the small wad of cash that she had taken out of her pants pocket then she started walking around the table, Bile looked at the $50 that his mother had slid into his hand in dumb disbelief while Hazaar and Lazeer simply stared at their two-day early allowances that had been placed on the table in front of them. Angel put the other two, $50 bills that she had taken out of the wad of cash that had contained $300 in it in her right pants pocket then she sat back in her chair at the table. When Guyunis walked into the dining room he found that the room had grown eerily quiet, he went and retrieved his breakfast from the microwave slowly then, after he had removed his semi-warm breakfast from the microwave he made his way back to the table. He had no more sat down in his chair when his mother stood up, he watched as his mother walked around the table to him then, when she had reached him he looked up at her. When she slid a $50 bill into his hand he started to get goosebumps on his arms, he found himself very confused and slightly nervous over being given the $50 bill. Angel sat back in her chair then resumed eating her breakfast, which had gone cold, after she had given Guyunis his allowance.

"I think ma needs to call in sick today," Bile said. "Guyunis, she's giving us our allowances early and she's saying she's the worse ma in the universe."

"What?" Guyunis blinked his slightly slanted, glowing yellow eyes twice then he looked up the table at his mother. "Mum, what's going-k on? You sick or somethin'?"

"I'm not sick and I'm not calling in sick today either." Angel replied. "I've noticed them stares and them turning wheels in my two younger sons' heads the past twelve hours, I can't give them money to go do what they want to do without giving my other boys some money as well. I'm not a parent that plays favorites."

"Momma, I'm confused. Why are you giving us our allowances early and why are you saying that you can't give us money to do something we want to do without giving some money to for our brothers again?" Hazaar asked.

"I'm just as confused about the wheels turning and the stare thing too." Lazeer said.

"After Guyunis's kitten was discovered you two have been giving me them looks that say you want something but you're too afraid to ask it," Angel replied, Hazaar and Lazeer looked down in shame. After Guyunis's kitten had been discovered the thought of asking their mother if they could go out and get a pet had crossed their minds. They had both tried hard to not show their interest in going out to get a pet and, from what their mother had just said, they had failed. "if you two wish to go out and get a pet, a turtle or a frog, go do it. No dogs and no more cats, though."

"Mom!" Lazeer shouted happily, Hazaar leaped up from his chair then he raced over to give his mother a hug.

"You two think them looks would get by me?" Angel said, she gently pushed Hazaar away from her then she stood up from her chair yet again for the fourth time that morning. "Spend wisely now, don't use all of September's allowance up in one day. Your next allowance isn't scheduled to be handed out until October the first, you have a full month ahead of you."

"Okay!" Hazaar and Lazeer said together, loudly and happily.


	15. Chapter 15

The month of August, along with the first two weeks of the month of September, seemed to of gone by at a snail's pace for him which was funny because, whenever he spoke of the slowness of the past six weeks he would always get the response of _not really, the past six weeks have gone by pretty fast for me_ by the people that he spoke with. He guessed that a majority of the reason why the eighth month and the first two weeks of the ninth month of the year 4100 went so slowly for him was because he was so busy on Ssaaloo, a small planet that had once been a part of another planet called Ssaavoo that was in his conquered Bula Galaxy, but he also guessed that another big part of why the past six weeks had gone by so slowly for him was because he was missing his daughter and his missing wife and sons terribly. He was expecting another slow day after the alarm clock had gone off on the morning of the 15th of September, when that black digital alarm clock had gone off he had just wanted to swing his fist up and then bring it down on the thing. He had wanted to smash the thing to bits and pieces and then roll over and go back to sleep but a galactic conqueror just couldn't do that, a galactic conqueror had to get up after the alarm clock went off when he or she was on one of the planets that was in one of his or her conquered galaxies that he or she ruled over. After he had shut the alarm clock off he sat up in the bed that was in the one room apartment that he had been residing in for six weeks, he had looked around after he sat up in the bed.

As was his new seven and a half usual, he found himself thinking about his kids and his wife. What were his kids doing at 6:00 am? Well, Eshal would still be in bed sleeping. She'd not be getting up for another hour. His four, missing sons would also be sleeping. What would his wife, who was also missing, be doing at this hour in the morning? Well, she'd probably be getting up with him. There would be no fighting on who got to use the toilet or the shower first, she'd let him use the bathroom first and then, after he had left the bathroom she'd go in and do her morning routine... unless she decided to join him in the shower, he had never said no to her joining him in their bedroom's adjacent bathroom for a shower or even a bath. After they had showered they'd either dress separately or, if his wife and he were in a romantic mood, they'd dress themselves together. He'd go off to his office to check the messages that had been left on the voice mail after he and his family had gone to bed while she either went down to the kitchen to get breakfast started or, quite possibly, she'd go upstairs to check on the kids before going downstairs to get breakfast started. What would the boys do after they woke up? Well, obviously they'd get dressed then they'd go downstairs to see their mother. Eshal would get dressed then she'd come down to say hello to him before going down to see and say hello to her mother. Maybe, if Angel hadn't run off with the boys again, his sons would have the same routine of coming to see and say hello and good morning to him before going to see and say hello and good morning to their mother. They'd eat breakfast in the dining room, there would be the usual morning talk going on at the table and then, after breakfast had come to a conclusion, they'd all get up then disperse in separate directions, what his sons would do after finishing their breakfasts he had no clue. It pained greatly in knowing that he knew so little about his boys, Bile might go to the gym for a morning workout and Lhaklar... well, he might head upstairs for his music ring that had some recorded tunes on it then he would probably head down to the gym for a workout... or he might head to the library for a book or something. What would Hazaar and Lazeer do? Would they get into a morning fuss n' fight or would they just go off peacefully? What would his wife do after finishing breakfast? Well, besides taking the dishes to the kitchen for cleaning she'd probably would go upstairs to take care of her pet Sekhem's or she'd probably take out a needle and some thread to make a sweater or stitch up a hole that was in either his or in one of the kids' clothing. She might even decide to spend some time with Zanra, his family's pet dog that his grandfather's uncle had practically thrown at his wife seven and a half months ago or she might have spent some time with Eshal for a few hours. Angel might teach Eshal how to use a sewing machine or how to do a cross stitch, she might give Eshal some pointers on cooking or they just might sit somewhere and talk. Eshal and her brothers might even go outside for a while after breakfast had concluded as well, come to think about it.

He reached his hand up to his face, laid it flat across his eyes then he leaned forward. Seven and a half months. To some that didn't seem like a very long time but, to him, it had just been one hell of a slow nightmare come true. Wake up in the early morning hours of January the 28th to take a piss then, after he had taken a piss he had noticed a sort of emptiness to him that he had nearly forgotten in the three months that his wife and sons had been back to living with him. He had thought nothing of it, he had figured that it was just pre-morning nerves and stresses. When the empty feeling had persisted he had decided to check on his wife and kids, when he had seen that his wife's side of the bed was unoccupied he had thought nothing of it. Angel had just gone off to check on the kids, he had thought, she's not in bed because she's on the third level checking on the kids. He had left his bedroom chamber to go check on the kids, he had figured that he'd bump into his wife while doing so and that that empty feeling would leave him but that had not happened. His body had gone cold, it had gone to a frightening freezing cold temperature the second he had reached the third floor and time had seemed to of slowed up as well which had scared him half to pieces. He had checked Hazaar's chamber first and then Bile's and then Lhaklar's and then Lazeer's in that order, he had been next to screaming in terror when he had seen that each of his sons' beds were empty and that the rooms were unoccupied. The only child of his that had been in the room that she was suppose to be in at near four in the morning was Eshal, he had found her sleeping on her side peacefully on her bed. After he had found Eshal sleeping in the room that was hers he had checked each of his sons' rooms again, the idea that his eyes had played tricks on him had come to his mind so he had gone to double-check the rooms to see if his sons were really not in them. Nope, instead of finding Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer all sleeping in their rooms he had found four, empty, beds in four, empty, bedroom chambers. The last seven and a half months had gone by at a super slow pace for him for a reason, almost all of his family was missing, he couldn't think of anything else that would make seven and a half months go by at such a slow pace other than that.

"Tazzy? Time to get up, son. The sun is up and out, time for you to greet the new day." he heard his mother's voice say.

He got up slowly from the bed that he had been sleeping in for the past six weeks, the bed was one of them normal types that had a wooden head and base board and a simple mattress that had white sheets and a light blue comforter on it, he didn't bother making the bed after he got up. He went straight to the bathroom to do his usual, half-there, morning routine. He emptied his bladder of its contents then he took a shower then he brushed his teeth before exiting the bathroom, with just a white towel wrapped around his middle he went to the light brown dresser that he had put some of his clothing in after he had arrived on the planet. Besides a pair of white briefs he donned a pair of dark blue tuxedo pants, a button down, long sleeve white shirt that had belled cuffs and false gold buttons and a light blue vest that had gold buttons down the front before reaching into the drawer that had his socks in it. He grabbed a pair of blue socks, put them on his feet then he crossed the room to the closet where he had put his tuxedo jackets and shoes in. He grabbed a dark blue tuxedo jacket that had notched lapels and two inside pockets then he grabbed a pair of dark blue shoes. After he had put his shoes on and had put the tuxedo jacket on he crossed the room again. He grabbed his cellular phone, a silver phone that was about four inches long by three inches wide that had a pull out screen and keyboard and a soft point pin attached to the side, from the night stand that was beside the bed then he bent down, he picked the mattress up a little bit then he reached underneath it for the wallet and the brown leather check book that were both pretty well swelled with cash and cards. He put the check book in the left inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket then he put the wallet in the back left pocket of his pants, after he had dressed himself and had gotten himself ready for the day he made the bed up then he turned to leave the room. Before he had gone two steps from the bed he stopped, he turned around then went back to the night stand for one, final, item that he had somehow missed. He pulled the one drawer that was on the night stand out then he reached in, he closer the drawer after he had removed the black leather eye-glass case out of it then he turned and exited the room.

Why was he on Ssaaloo in the first place? Why wasn't he out helping his family look for his wife and sons? Well, them two questions were easy to answer, after the riots on Axalwen and Ssaavoo had started up people on other planets in his Bula Galaxy had started making up riots of their own. It had become somewhat of a domino effect - one riot on one planet would start and then another on another planet and so on and so forth, although he had not wanted anything to distract him from looking for his wife and sons he just could not ignore the riots. He had put down five riots in six weeks time, some of the riots had dispersed after he had showed up while others had required what he called "special attention". He had maybe dropped three riots by use of his powers, he had actually had to call in a few hundred of his Goblin troops after one of the riots on Ssaaloo had gone from being the normal, no-worry type of riot to ultra destructive. The riots on Ssaaloo, Irmondoxa, Puspadom and Ashomono had required his immediate attention, he had had to put his involvement in the search for his missing wife and sons on hold so he could take care of dispersing the riots and making sure that new ones didn't start up afterwards.

The walls on the inside of the apartment that he had resided in for six weeks were a transparent blue, he could see the kitchen that was on the other side of the one bedroom that the apartment had and he could see the small living room that was in front of the kitchen, the carpet that was in the apartment was all blue. The lights that were in the apartment had been built into the transparent walls, there was a small, blue button on the left side of each door in the apartment that one could use to turn the lights on. The kitchen was basic, it had a round table and two chairs in it along with a small refrigerator and a microwave and a basic coffee pot. The living room had a couch, a chair, a coffee table and a small, 30" tv in it. The cost of spending just one night in the room was $395, he had no problem in paying that and he had no problem with being in the room. What did he do in the room anyways? Eat, watch a little tv, read a newspaper and then sleep. That was all, a majority of his day was spent in the administrative building that was two miles away from the apartment.

"Breakfast, Tazzy. Eat and gain your strength for the rest of the day." his mother's voice told him after he had walked into the apartment's kitchen.

He didn't feel like eating but, after he had taken the pair of goggled glasses out of their case then had slipped them over his head and had adjusted them so that they fit over his eyes comfortably he went over to the cabinets that were in the small kitchen. He took out a small pan from the cabinet closest to the stove then, after he had placed the pan down on one of the burners on the stove he went to the small refrigerator. A blast of cool air shot into his face after he had opened the door to the refrigerator, he ignored it as he bent down to grab the carton of brown eggs that was on the lower shelf of the refrigerator box. He took two of the eggs out of the carton then he placed the carton back on the shelf, he stood with the door to the refrigerator wide open for a few seconds then he bent down for the box of pancake mix that was on the top shelf of the refrigerator. The door to the refrigerator made a click as it closed after he had stepped away from the box, in what a human would describe a zombie sort of way he walked back to the stove. He cracked the eggs against the side of the small pan then he tossed the shells into the white trash can that was two feet away, he grabbed another pan from the cabinet that was beside the stove while the eggs were cooking then he pulled down a small bowl from the cabinet that was beside the one that he had gotten the two pans from. He took a silver spoon and then a white spatula out from the drawer beside the stove then he opened the box of pancake mix.

Since the pan had a buttering system built in it he didn't have to go back to the refrigerator box for a stick of butter, he simply poured enough pancake mix into the bowl for one pancake then he added a dash of cinnamon before adding in a cup and a half of water to the bowl. He stirred the contents that were in the bowl for a while until the consistency of the mix went from clumpy to smooth then he poured it all into the pan that wasn't being used. The eggs had been cooking all the while that he had been stirring the pancake mix, he contemplated scrambling the eggs but at the last second he decided to have two fried eggs along with the one pancake. Without thinking about it he removed his phone from the right inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket, he flipped the screen up then he placed the phone on the counter about two feet away from the stove. He returned to the stove to check on the food that was cooking in the pans a second later.

"Message count," he said loudly, his cellular phone was no regular cellular phone. It could be used by both hand and voice command.

"Five new messages," a feminine, mechanical, voice sounded back. "receive now or later?"

"Who are the senders of the messages?" he asked.

"One new message from one named Arph Laemoln. One new message from one named Avedis Grayax. One new message from one named Zatix Ficos. One new message from one named EshalVile Surfeit. One new message from one named Ashaklar Ubalki. Receive now or later?"

"Receive now, in order from oldest to newest." he said.

A majority of the people who had messaged him in the night after he had gone to bed were the semi-new government officials that he had put on Axalwen and Ssaavoo, they had called just to tell him that everything was on schedule and that all heated activities from the past few days had cooled down which he was glad for. He had been waiting on being told that, if things on Axalwen and Ssaavoo continued to stay cool and calm in the next few days and if things continued to be cool here on Ssaaloo he would probably be heading back home for maybe three or four days before going back out to resume looking for his missing wife and sons. His daughter's message was a long one, as he flipped the pancake he listened to her message. She told him all of what was going on at home, she told him that his staff was keeping things neat and tidy and that they were doing their jobs to perfection - he did not need to be told that. All of the Goblins in his staff had very high grades from Staffer's Academy, they took their jobs seriously and he very rarely had to tell them to go do something and he very rarely had to snap at them for doing something wrong or for not doing something. Eshal also claimed that she missed him terribly and that she wished he would hurry up and get back home soon. He made a mental note to call her back after he had finished making his breakfast, he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to eat what he was making. He was pretty sure that he'd just plop it all on a plate then sit and look down at it before getting up to throw it into the trash.

"Pause message," he said.

"Message paused," the mechanical voice that was programmed into the cellular phone said. His food was ready to be taken out of the pans so he grabbed a plate from the cabinet above the stove then he scooped the pancake up from it's pan with the spatula. He placed the pancake on the plate slowly then he placed the two fried eggs on either side of it.

He walked the plate of food over to the table then he sat down, he placed the plate on the table's surface then he simply stared at it like he knew he would. Eating anything these days had required a lot of effort on his part, that empty feeling that he had just robbed food of its taste and it also completely robbed him of any interest in eating or drinking. Usually, when he ate nowadays, he did the play-thing with his fork. He'd toy with his food for a while, he'd nearly get up to toss his uneaten food in the trash and then, by some unknown miracle he'd just shovel it all in. If his wife and sons had not disappeared he'd of eaten anything that had been put down in front of him with no problem but, since they were missing and since they had taken a good chunk of him away with them he was encountering problems with the consumption of food - and with other, everyday activities. He grabbed his fork, he jabbed it twice into the pancake and then he simply rolled the edge of the fork over the sides of the fried eggs before he did something that he had started doing as a kid. He slid the fork under the pancake first, he lifted the pancake up then with his finger he nudged the fried egg that had been on the left side of the pancake over. With the left fried egg being now in the center of the plate he placed the pancake down on top of it, he then scooped the other fried up with the fork. With a flick of his wrist he flipped the fried egg over, the fried egg landed right on top of the pancake to make a sort of fried egg and pancake sandwich. He had been seven hundred and five years old when he had started doing this, it had grossed his mother and younger sister out but his father had simply said that he had been eating like a man should. Syrup and egg yolk washed out from the pancake-fried egg sandwich, it made a sort of moat around the food.

"Message paused," the mechanical voice of his cellular phone said again. "stop paused message or play?"

"Play," he said, he poked his fork into the pancake-fried egg sandwich that he had just made then he leaned back in his chair.

"Tazzy, I've been trying to reach you for weeks-..."

For weeks? That was a surprise, he had not heard a thing from anyone other than Eshal for six weeks now. Azidia Tazakai, an official working in the administrative building that was two miles from the apartment that he had spent six weeks sleeping and forcing his meals down in, had said nothing on anyone in his family trying to reach him. He had figured that everyone in his family were busy, the women were busy with the raising of the kids while most of the men were busy going out in the universe looking for his wife and sons. The only one in his family that had not done squat in looking for his wife and sons was his nephew, Vile had done very little in helping to find Angel and her sons and that just pissed him off. What was his older brother doing? Searching for Angel, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer. What was his father doing? Searching for Angel, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer. What was his grandfather doing? Why, he was searching for Angel, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar and Lazeer. Was Trobrencus, his grandfather's uncle, and his adult son, Trivit, slouching or campaigning? Hell no! They were out there in the universe looking for his wife and sons. His mother, his stepfather and their adult children were also out there, searching for Angel and his and her sons. What was Vile doing? Oh, he's on Earth. He's conquer campaigning on Earth, he's abandoned the search in looking for Angel and her sons, one of whom that was his own, to go conquer a planet.

"I'm continuously told that you cannot be reached, Tazir. Some Azidia-person keeps telling me that I cannot speak with you even though it's important. I don't know why you haven't called me or anyone other than Eshal but it is very important that we talk." his mother's message was saying. "Homsi and I went to Earth six weeks ago to visit your nephew, we did have some trouble with your nephew. Tazir, call me back as soon as you can please. We need to talk, very important."

The message ended, the mechanical voice that was programmed into his cellular phone asked him if he wanted all messages erased or saved. He said for the phone to erase all messages but his mother's then he picked his fork up, he cut a slice of the pancake-fried egg sandwich then he forced his arm up. It took a lot of effort to open his mouth to allow the food to go in and it took even more effort afterwards because the food had gone cold. The eggs had lost their smooth texture and the pancake had gone limp, he very nearly got up to toss everything that was on his plate in the trash but he forced himself to go on in eating everything that was on his plate. Cold or not, he did need to eat. Over the course of the seven and a half months his mother had worried over his losing weight but, from what the scales said, he was his normal weight of two hundred and fifteen pounds. he was eating, he was exercising but it took a lot of effort to do both of them things. He knew that if he didn't eat or drink anything that he'd get sick, he'd lose weight and muscle mass, he didn't want that. What good would come off of his starving himself? Angel would surely not be happy over his starving himself, she'd insist that he eat and stay healthy and that he remained the way he was. It took every bit of fifteen minutes for him to shovel the fried egg-pancake sandwich into his mouth, he struggled to chew, he struggled to swallow and then he struggled to repeat it all over again with the next forkful. When he was done eating his breakfast he stood up, he took his plate and fork to the sink for washing then, after he had washed the plate, the fork, the pans, the bowl and the cooking utensils that he had used he went to gather his cellular. He could well of told the phone vocally to dial his mother's number but, since he was up and somewhat mobile he figured he'd best dial the number by hand. It seemed like it took forever for his hand to finally reach and then wrap around the cellular phone and it seemed like it also took forever for him to dial his mother's number, he found himself thinking that time sure slowed up and seemed unimportant when there was someone missing in your life right after he had pushed the soft point pen's end on the last number that would complete his dialing of his mother's number. Things that seemed important before the someone that had left your life had slid into the unimportant category, you was working or living your life in slow-motion and you found yourself practically wanting to just curl into a ball in a corner and wish yourself not alive anymore. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit sighed a sad sigh just as his mother answered his call.

"Hello? Hello? Hello?" his mother said in rapid succession. "Who is this? Hello?"

"Mother," TazirVile said, that was really all he could say.

"Tazzy! It's about time you called me back!" his mother exclaimed. "Where in blue blazes have you been? I've been calling the numbers that you said you could be reached at at all times, I keep being told that you cannot be reached or that you're too busy to talk to."

"Sorry about that, until this morning I had no clue about your tries to get in contact with me." TazirVile said. "Was last night the first time you tried calling my cellular?"

"Yes,"

"Should have called me on that number instead, I'll get on Azidia the soonest I walk into the building about her not letting me know about your attempts to get in contact with me." TazirVile said, he cleared his throat lowly. "What was it that you said you wanted to talk to me about? In your message you said that it was something important that you wished to speak to me about."

"You're wife and sons-..."

"What about them?" suddenly, everything stopped moving around him. It had already been quiet that morning but after hearing his mother say 'you're wife and sons' everything grew even more quiet and still.

"They've been found."

His stomach all of a sudden went from being chilled to being warm, his eyes grew wide and the muscle that was in his arms and legs moved as the news of his missing wife and sons being discovered was told to him. He practically wanted to drop the phone then yell for joy at the news but he reined that want in firmly, he'd do plenty of yelling and whooping and hollering for joy after he had hung the phone up. The first time his wife and sons had gone missing he had not heard any leads on where they were or how they were doing for one thousand, six hundred years. After his wife and sons' location had been discovered he had thought that he'd be bringing only three or four of his missing persons home. He had sadly thought that his last-born son, his prematurely born son, LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit, had passed away sometime after his wife had taken him and his brothers and left the mansion but that thought had been far wrong. Instead of bringing three or four of his missing family home, instead of bringing just Angel, Bile and Lhaklar or Angel, Bile, Lhaklar and Hazaar home after one thousand, six hundred years of searching for them he had found himself bringing all of his missing family home. His prematurely born son, Lazeer, had been one hundred percent alive and he had been perfectly healthy which had been one hell of a happy surprise for him. After he had not seen any sight of Hazaar, his secondborn son who had been conceived artificially, he had thought that he had not survived either. He had thought that one of the plagues or that one of the natural disasters had claimed his secondborn son but that had not happened, the thought of his wife not being able to keep Hazaar healthy and alive because of the demands put on her by four children had been thought as well but it had not been as clear a thought at the one about Hazaar being claimed by one of the plagues or one of the natural disasters that had swept through Earth in the time that they had been missing. If he had found out that either of his two, younger sons had passed away in the time that they had been missing he would have been sad, he'd of been heartbroken but that had not happened. All four of his sons, his three biological sons and his adopted son, had been found alive and well.

"Where?" he asked, he was suddenly flooded with energy. "Where have they been found? Where are they, are they all together?"

"We aren't fully sure on the whereabouts but it's the same planet that they were found on nearly a year ago." his mother said back.

"Earth?" it was a dumb question but it was a question that needed to be asked.

"Yes," his mother said. "Tazir, you're nephew knew all along that they were on the planet. He's saying he had no clue that they were on the planet but we think otherwise. He had pictures, he had pictures of the boys in a folder when Homsi and I went to see him."

"Vile kn-... Blast his ass! How do the boys look? Any sightings of Angel? Have you spoke to Vile on where they were seen?" TazirVile asked, finding out that his nephew had knowledge of where his wife and sons were pissed him off. So was that why his nephew had broke off from the search? Had he known all the while where Angel and her sons had gone to?

"None of the pictures we have show Angel in them," his mother said. "the boys look healthy."

"Do you still have the pictures?" TazirVile asked.

"Yes,"

"Can you do a fax or mail me a copy of each? I can't leave Ssaaloo yet, it'll be maybe three or four more days before I can leave." TazirVile said.

"Your stepfather made copies six weeks ago but we were waiting to hear from you before sending them to you." his mother said. "We'll put them in the mail now, should we mail them to Ssaaloo or should we mail them to your home address?"

"Send them to Moas, call up the house and get Eldass on the line. See if he'll do a personal delivery after they get to my mansion." TazirVile said.

"Will do, you're nephew claims that one of her staff had the pictures for all of ten days. He says that one of his staff just held onto the pictures for ten days before handing them over."

"Likely story, it's just like Vile to uphold something as important as information on where his daughter and his daughter's sons are." TazirVile huffed.

"Is the order from the Elder Courts still on-going? That as long as we're looking for Angel and her sons and as long as we have proof that they are on the planet we have a right in being on Earth?" his mother asked.

"I'll have to do a check on that, if it's not I'll get a new order made up. I want my wife and sons back and I'll be damned if my nephew or any other being in the universe stops me." TazirVile said, there was a sharp knock on the apartment's door at just that moment. "I need to go now, mother. I'll be in touch. My cellular is on me at all times so call me on that, okay?"

"Okay, you're stepfather says hello."

"Tell him I said hello back." TazirVile said, he then pressed the button on his cellular phone to make the call hang up.

The 16th and then the 17th of September came and went without any manila envelope that contained important photographs that his employer had asked his mother to mail to his home address showing up, when the morning of September the 18th came and went Eldass Zultoa grew fearful that the mail system had messed up somewhere and had sent the manila envelope that Ashaklar and her husband, Cheshire Ubalki, had said that they had sent off to his employer's address to some other address or worse; it had gotten lost somewhere in the mail chutes or had been accidentally dropped on the ground by one of the mail handlers that collected and then took the shipments of mail that came in from other planets to the mail buildings for sifting, weighing, filing, stamping and then sending out. It was probably nerves that made him worry that the manila envelope that had the photographs that his employer wished to see had been lost during the mail's transition but it could also be the fact that his oldest son had made him nervous when he had brought up all the science fiction influenced imaginative happenings that he thought happened with the mail system.

Mail got lost a lot of the time, for some reason when a package or letter was correctly and perfectly addressed and then stamped it never reached its destination because it had been lost in transition in one of the mail sifting buildings. Possibly dropped off of the assembly line, possibly accidentally thrown out, possibly even dropped by one of the sentient beings that grabbed the mail bags too hastily. Zshon, and his science fiction influenced imaginative mind, claimed that the people that handled the mail purposely changed addresses or took off stamps from certain envelopes or packages so them pieces of mail never got to their destinations. Mail sometimes did get stolen, Zshon claimed that the mail people grabbed handfuls of mail from their mail delivery bags then did the stuff-in-the-pocket thing when no one was looking. Mail sometimes arrived to its destination all bent up or creased or even destroyed, Zshon claimed that the mail people liked to play mail-pong from time to time in their spare time which was ridiculous. Oh, the envelope or package arrived to its destination but there was nothing in it, Zshon claimed that the mail people decided to take what was in the envelopes or packages then tape or wrap the envelopes or packages up to look like they haven't been tampered with. Mail wasn't handled like that anymore, it use to be handled in that way but a new system and rules and a plethora of cameras placed all around the mail buildings and in the mail delivery vans, cars and trucks prevented most of all that science fiction influenced crap from happening. About five hundred thousand years ago people _did _have to worry about all that happening but now people didn't have to worry about that happening, the mail was safe. His science fiction junky for a son claimed otherwise, if it wasn't for the importance of what was coming in through the mail he would have laughed and done some mail related jokes with his son, he was treating the matter of what had been said that was expected to be coming in the mail seriously since it was so important.

"Hello, you have reached Surfeit Mansion. I'm sorry for saying this but the owner is currently not available, he is out on business. How may I help you?"

That was how he always answered the phone when it rang, if he was close enough to a phone while doing his daily, workday chores he'd pick the phone up and answer in that, exact, way. It was far better for an employee to answer the employer's telephone in that way, it was professional and it was polite and it was far better than simply saying 'hello, you've reached Surfeit Mansion, how may I help you on this fine day'. He had been in his employer's bedroom when the phone had rang, he had been feeding his employer's wife's pet Sekhem's at the time but he had quickly dropped what he had been doing to grab the receiver of the phone that was in the room up from its handle then acknowledging the caller in his professional way. The way he had gotten to the phone might not have been very professional, he had had a feeling that, on the day of the 15th of September a call would be placed and that the caller would ask for him, when that phone had gone off he had practically jumped onto and then had ran across his employer's and his employer's wife's bed to get to it. There had been a clang when he had reached the phone, another unprofessional move on his part as an employee was suppose to place his or her hand on the phone delicately not slam his or her hand on the phone and then struggle to get the receiver off of its handle, then he had spoken into the receiver after he had picked it up from its handle.

"Hi, it's Ashaklar, you're employer's mother. I was wondering if Mr. Zultoa was available to speak with." Ashaklar Ubalki had said.

"The first, second, third or fourth, Mrs. Ubalki?" since Mr. Surfeit had generously employed three of his sons in his staff that was a right important question.

"Eldass,"

"Speaking,"

"Hello, Mr. Zultoa, you should have really said it was you that answered the phone instead of simply asking how you may help someone." Ashaklar had said. "You're employer asked me to ask you to if you could bring him something."

"I'd be honored to be of service to him, ma'am." he had said. "What is it that I am being asked to take to my employer?"

"A manila envelope, it has some photographs in it so be careful. Please don't bend it or roll it or anything, the photographs are very important." Ashaklar had said. "My husband and I just sent it off so it should get to my son's address in one or two days."

"I'll be on the look-out for it. Once it's here I'll hop on over to see Master Tazir with it. Is he still on Ssaaloo?"

"Yes, says he will be for another three or four days." Ashaklar had replied.

He had waited, he had done his work-related chores in his employer's mansion while doing so and with each passing day that the manila envelope had not been placed in the mailbox he had grown worried. Seven months, two weeks and two days ago, after his employer's wife and sons had disappeared, he had very nearly come to be fired by the man who had employed him for all of his working career, the very man who he was loyal to and who he had written the name of in blood on his Loyalty Papers had very nearly thrown him the pink slip of doom. He had been shocked at hearing that piece of information, everyone had been shocked over it. His co-workers, his family, his friends... shit, when his father-in-law, a man that he had never really gotten along with, had heard about it he had called up Aboshi, his wife, to give her the word that if it did happen that she was more than welcome to move back home with him and her mother. For the first month after his employer's wife and sons had been discovered as missing he had practically been working and walking about in the mansion on the very tips of his toes. The shock had turned to fear, he had grown fearful that if he did anything out of the ordinary, or in the ordinary or in the over ordinary, he'd be seeing the pink slip and possibly even his employer's shoe coming at him to give him the boot out of the house. Was he angry over the near loss of his job and the friendship that he and his employer had formed between themselves over the years? No, he figured that he did deserve to have something thrown at him for his employer's wife and sons' disappearance. Had he not been in charge to watch over Mistress Angel? Had he not been told to stick to her like glue on the day of the 27th of January? That was a yes, his employer had said for him to keep at her side, to be her personal servant for the day, to be her personal bodyguard for the day practically.

He had known from the moment his eyes had popped open on the morning of the 28th of January that something was wrong, his bones had told him that something had gone wrong and the chilliness in his and Aboshi's bedroom had told him that something was just not right and the total quiet that had been in his and Aboshi's house had also told him that something wasn't right but he had not gotten any answers as to what was wrong until he had driven into the employees garage that was in back of his employer's mansion home. He had no more parked his car before finding one of his co-workers, a big, burly Goblin that Mr. Surfeit had employed as a guard, rushing over towards him. He had gotten out of his car then he had just held his hands up to show that he was safe and innocent, which he had been. Except for a pocketknife, of which he would have left in his car had the guard of not rushed over to him after he had parked his car, he had had nothing harmful or dangerous on his person. He and his daughter, Mekaia, had been marched into their employer's mansion, his three sons had followed soon after as had seven others. They had all been led to their employer's living room, of which had already been right crowded because the entire Surfeit and Ubalki clans had also been led to the room earlier, then they had all been locked in. That living room had become even more crowded afterwards, he estimated that there had been a total of three hundred plus people crammed into the room before the door had been opened and Mr. Surfeit had come in to start calling people out for interviews.

It hadn't really taken but so long for his employer to get to him and for him to get his answers on what was going on, it had maybe taken an hour, maybe an hour and a half, before he had been called. He had been very shocked at finding out that Mistress Angel and her sons had all disappeared, yet again in the dead of night. He had told his employer all that he had happened the day before when he had been his wife's personal bodyguard. Mistress Angel had seemed fine, a little jumpy and heachache-y but fine. She had not given any signs to leaving the house again. The only time that he had left her side was when she had gone to the bathroom or the three or four times that she had said that she was going to take a thirty minute nap in her and Master Tazir's bedroom chamber. His employer had asked him if his wife had gone into his office at any time before or after she had taken them three or four, thirty minute naps and he had said no then he had asked his employer why he had asked him that question. Apparently, there was $400 missing from Master Tazir's safe. Master Tazir thought that his wife had taken the money before leaving with the kids, he didn't know if she had or had not because she had not entered his employer's office at all while he had been her personal bodyguard. His employer had thanked him for his cooperating in the interview in answering the questions presented to him then his employer had said for him to go off somewhere in the mansion, do chores or something had been what he had said. He had done so obediently with no fuss.

"Mail come yet?" Losal Khrelan, a tall Goblin who had green skin, a few warts on his face, a thin but long nose and short, scraggly brown hair on his head, asked. Eldass didn't reply vocally, he just shook his head. "How long has it been since Master Tazir's mother told you that she was sending the photographs here?"

"Two days and it looks like the morning of the third," Eldass replied. "getting concerned. She said it'd be here in one or two days."

"Maybe something came up, space weather or something to slow up the mail crafts or a mix-up in the mail transition or something." Losal said.

"Please don't do the imaginative science fiction thing on why the photographs haven't gotten here yet," Eldass thought pleadingly, his son was a lover of Science Fiction films and he knew that Losal Khrelan was too.

"My sister, Afila, once ordered something from one of them magazines that advertised collectibles," Losal started, Eldass looked up at the ceiling in dread. Here came one of them real-life sayings that would be twisted into a possible explanation for why the photographs hadn't come in the mail yet. "she didn't see what she ordered for near eight months. It came in the mail fine, the package was in fine order and the item that she had ordered was fine but the delay in shipping was just aggravating."

"No offense, Losal, but this is photographs and they're a bit more important than a magazine ordered collectible." Eldass said, he tried his best to not sound offending.

"I know that, was just saying that in some parts of the mailing system things are slow. Just have to be patient." Losal shrugged. He gave Eldass a pat on the shoulder when his co-worker said nothing in return. "They'll get here."

Eldass nodded his head, he had wondered all through his waiting for the manila envelope that Mrs. Ubalki had said that she and her husband had sent in the mail two days and one morning ago if his co-worker, Homsi Modulavich, had seen the photographs that had still yet not come in the mail. His employer has given Mr. Modulavich an order to go along with Ashaklar to Earth to see Master Vile, Mr. Modulavich had been there when their employer's mother had found the photographs, there was a good chance that Mr. Modulavich had seen the photographs. Eldass was pretty sure that his employer's sons were all healthy and in good, physical condition - they had been in very surprising physical condition when they had all been discovered to be alive and well nearly a year ago so why the hell would they still not look in that same condition? - but the question still lingered of what they looked like. Mistress Angel had been a very attentive mother, she had still been letting her kids have her natural milk and even though they had all reached that mid-teenage phase in their lives she had still been right protective of them, there was no reason why she would stop being so attentive or protective of her sons now, seven months, two weeks and two days after they had disappeared. Eldass figured that his employer's wife would always be rather protective and attentive to her kids, even though everyone in the Surfeit clan had told her to stop letting her sons nurse from her breasts she had continued to do so and even though everyone in the Surfeit clan had told her to be less attentive of her kids she had continued to do so. Eldass had no clue as to what was wrong with his employer's family and why they had a problem with Mistress Angel's mothering of her kids but he thought that she was a fine mother. When one of the clocks in the mansion started tolling noon Eldass started to leave his post, the mail person usually came around to his employer's residence at 9:30 a.m., it looked like there would be no morning mail for that morning. It was just his luck that once he had started to go down the short hallway that came off of the foyer that a blue mini-van with an envelope painted on its sides drove down the street and then stopped at the mailbox that was off to the side of the wrought iron front gate that had his employer's initials on it.

It what really only Losal who saw his mad dash back to the front door to their employer's mansion, his co-worker's feet barely touched the floor before being jerked up again and he nearly banged the door on the wall as he swung it open which made Losal leap back in shocked surprise. Losal got only a peak of what the rest of his co-worker's race to the mailbox that was welded to the side of their employer's wrought iron front gate was like because he was required to head back to work but he envisioned it very accurately. Eldass Zultoa, a Goblin who looked rather elderly with all the facial wrinkles but who was really not because he was one of the many thousands of other species in the universe that had achieved immortality many millions of years ago, practically leaped off of the front porch. He tore halfway across his employer's front yard before slowing down to a brisk walk, he saw that running to the mailbox wasn't necessary, if the manila envelope that contained the all-important photographs that his employer's mother had mailed to her son had been put in the box then it would remain there until he took it out. His fluffy, white hair; which had once been a dull, coppery red color before he had gone and dyed it white and which had been nicely combed to the side before he had raced out of his employer's residence in a semi-excited, semi-panicked sort of way, was semi-plastered to one side of his head. His forehead was beaded with sweat, several trails of sweat rolled down the sides of his light blue face as he walked on down the yellow rocked path towards the mailbox that had been welded onto the front gate, by the time he had reached the mailbox he had regained full control of himself. After he had reached the all black, metal mailbox that had vine-like designs on its sides and top he quickly dropped the door then reached in. One would really have to take a good look at him to take note that, even though he had regained control of his main, physical self he had not fully regained control of his emotions. His blue eyes were bright with how relieved and excited he was over the successful mailing of the all-important photographs, after he had taken the manila envelope out of the mailbox he didn't waste any time in teleporting to Ssaaloo. Two drops of sweat fell from the tip of his nose, that was rather long and that sported two rather large nostrils, before he teleported with the manila envelope in hand. After he had teleported to the apartment where his employer had said he'd be staying in he reached into his white tuxedo jacket for the kerchief that he had put in the inside left pocket. Eldass wiped his face quickly, making it go from being wet with sweat to dry, then he placed his kerchief back in his inside tuxedo pocket. Eldass straightened his black tie then he ran his hand over his hair to make himself look more presentable and professional then he walked over to the door to the apartment that was in front of him. He gave three knocks on the door then he stepped back, he waited patiently for the door to be opened for a full sixty seconds before walking forward to knock again. He sighed on the inside in relief when his employer answered the door after he had knocked on it for a second time.

"Master Tazir," he said, he bowed politely.

"Mr. Zultoa," TazirVile Surfeit said, he took in the slight untidiness of his second Most Trusted employee who also happened to be the longest employed in his staff quickly then he stepped back. "please, come in."

"Thank you, Master Tazir." Eldass said, he walked into his the apartment that his employer had been residing in for six weeks quickly then, after his employer had closed the door he held the manila envelope out. "The items that your mother asked me to bring to you arrived less than one minute ago, sir."

"I have been waiting on pins and needles for these." TazirVile said excitedly, he took the manila envelope slowly from his employer's hand. "Thank you, Mr. Zultoa. If you will please take a seat while I review these. I was just about to leave to head back to the administrative building, you're very lucky to have caught me."

He walked into the apartment quickly, the living room was just around the corner from the door so he went to it quickly, when he reached it he went right over to the couch. He sat down on the blue couch that was in a blue carpeted room that had transparent blue walls, his employer sat in the light blue chair that was placed perpendicular to the couch. The light brown coffee table, that had a storage space between the four legs, seemed out of place in the all-blue room, if he had owned the apartment he would have purchased and then placed a baby blue coffee table in the living room instead to make the room have a full color scheme. Eldass looked at his employer, TazirVile Surfeit had undone the little string that kept the top of the manila envelope down, he was reaching into the manila envelope now for the photographs. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit looked different than what he had looked six weeks ago, he had a good amount of energy to him and a good, energetic walk to him that said that he had gotten out of the depression that had gripped him soon after he had completed the interviews then had said for most everyone that had come over to his residence for a lengthy stay to leave. Eldass made note of the fact that his employer's attitude seemed to have lifted, his employer didn't seem to be in a glum mood anymore which was good.

The man that had employed him right out of Staffer's Academy looked very healthy despite what he had gone through in the past seven months, two weeks and two days. The man that was sitting in the light blue chair had light blue skin that was stretched evenly and tightly over a teardrop-shaped face that had large, oval-shaped, silver-colored eyes in it that were behind a pair of goggled glasses. The face of his employer had no nose on it, instead there were just two holes where a nose would normally be, there was an O-shaped mouth underneath the nose holes. The fingers that were on the backs of the photographs that had been taken out of the manila envelope had suction-cups on their tips, the fingers looked to have a lot of strength in them which was good. Eldass didn't need to be told that his employer was a tall man, he knew that TazirVile Surfeit stood six-foot, one inch tall and he also knew that his employer had a lean body that had a lot of muscle built up on it. There was good, hard muscle all over his employer's body, TazirVile Surfeit had good muscle mass on his arms, legs, stomach, shoulders and back. Master Tazir, as he called the man, was wearing a striped, dark green tuxedo, the jacket of which sported a long, split tail that went all the way to the ground, and dark green shoes. He had a solid, dark green tie around his neck and a dark green vest that had artichoke green ties on it over a long sleeve, button down white shirt that had gold buttons going down the front and belled cuffs on the ends of the arms. The man's shoes were dark green, they looked to have been given a good polishing as they had a shine to them.

"These're my boys alright!" TazirVile Surfeit said excitedly, he began to flip through the photographs again. Eldass merely watched as his employer flipped through the photographs two more times, when his employer suddenly stopped Eldass got the distinct feeling of having a pair of eyes settle on him. With his employer having eyes that were a full, shiny, silvery color you would have to relay on the sense of feeling to know if he was looking at you or not. "Has Homsi seen these?"

"Not that I know of, sir." Eldass replied.

"He come in for work today?" TazirVile asked.

"Yessir, last I saw he was on the fifth floor." Eldass replied.

TazirVile Surfeit nodded his head then he reached into his tuxedo jacket, he was steady with his hand as he reached it into the left pocket that was inside his jacket, he slowly withdrew his hand when it wrapped around his cellular phone. Eldass watched in silence as his employer used the soft point pen to dial a number then, after the caller had answered the call put to him he listened as his employer spoke. It only took a short few seconds of listening before Eldass put a name to the person that his employer had called, TazirVile Surfeit had dialed either Homsi Modulavich's regular, non-work cellular phone's number or the cellular phone that Mr. Modulavich used for work. Master Tazir was asking Homsi a few questions like if he had seen the photographs or if he had any knowledge of where the photographs had been taken or if Mr. Modulavich was going to be available for a few days. His employer was on his cellular phone for all of five minutes, when his employer concluded the conversation with Homsi he swiftly flipped the top down then he placed it back in the pocket that he had gotten it from. Master Tazir resumed looking at the photographs again for a few minutes before he put them away, he slid them back into the manila envelope then he stood up.

"Mr. Zultoa, how are things at home with you?" Eldass blinked his eyes, this was not a question that he had expected to be asked.

"Good, sir." Eldass replied. "My wife and I just welcomed a new baby girl to the family, a new section has been added to the back of the house so I won't have to consider kicking any of my kids out."

"You available to be out of the house for a few days?" TazirVile asked. "Say, four days to a week?"

Eldass thought it over for a full minute, he and Aboshi had just welcomed kid number fifteen to their home just last month and the contractor that he had hired to oversee the expansion of his house had just signed the paper saying that his job was done in overseeing all that went on in the construction of the eight new rooms that he had wanted to be added to his house. Dolrawaa had been born a month early but she was a strong baby girl and she had actually been born at a good, solid, six pounds so there had been no need for her to be kept in the hospital, despite the birth of a new granddaughter his in-laws had still raised cain over his needing to stop being selfish. His father-in-law, Teromeo Raclomor, had nearly punched him across the jaw after he had walked into the room in the hospital where his daughter and his new granddaughter had been resting in, both of his in-laws had wanted him to snip the sacred sacks' cords after Saplina had been born and then they had said it again after Malmeen and Bamaia and then Zardox had been born. Mr. and Mrs. Raclomor thought that he was being selfish in his forcing their daughter to continuously have babies which was absurd. Aboshi loved being a mother, he loved being a father, they had plenty of money coming in from his working for TazirVile Surfeit to support all of them and they were all happy with their lives. Aboshi had really set her parents straight after Teromeo and his wife had started getting on him for not doing the operation that would spare her from bringing further children into the universe, she had told them in not so many words to leave him alone and to just pipe down on the testicular surgery because, as she had so said it, she didn't want him to lose the ability to create more kids and she didn't want to not have further children by him. Aboshi, even after being married to him for so many thousands of year and even after giving birth to fifteen children and even after having to deal with her parents feelings towards him, still loved him. Dolrawaa had made things a bit hectic at home for all of two weeks, she had settled down now so yes, he could leave the house for a few days... if the cause for that few-day absence was important, that was. He'd not allow himself to be out of the house and away from his family unless it was for a good reason, he liked to be around his family and to help his wife in the child-raising.

"If it's to go to Earth to find and bring your wife and sons back home I am all yours, my wife will understand my loyalty towards you and yours." Eldass said, he then added in an honest sort of way, "You know me, sir. I only allow myself to be out of the house for a good length of time when it's for a good cause."

"I'm aware of that. You're a good employee and a good husband, Mr. Zultoa." TazirVile said. "I won't be heading to Earth just yet, I will need proof that my wife and sons are on the planet. Mr. Modulavich has already said that he'd be honored to go down to the shielded areas on Earth to look for my wife and sons, would you be willing to join him in the search?"

"Yessir," Eldass nodded his head.

"Good, I am sure Mr. Modulavich will enjoy the company and the extra help in the search. Make sure to take a camera with you, if either of you two gentlemen see my wife or my sons you are to use that camera. See if you can get video evidence as well and take note of where they are seen." TazirVile said.

"I live to obey you, Master Tazir." Eldass stood up from the couch, he bowed then he teleported from the apartment that his employer had resided in for six weeks to his house on Moas.


	16. Chapter 16

"Man, I am so jealous!" Lazeer exclaimed when he saw the turtles that were in the two glass aquariums that were in his older brother's bedroom. "Where'd you get the luck to find them? How much did you spend on them?"

Hazaar couldn't help but beam in pride, his younger brother was doing exactly as he had hoped he would. Lazeer was going crazy over the three turtles that were in the semi-aquatic aquarium that was on the very top of the two-shelf, dark brown bookcase and he was practically tripping all over himself over the two other turtles that were swimming about in the fully aquatic aquarium that was below the semi-aquatic aquarium. The evenly divided, semi-aquatic tank that was on the top of the two-shelf bookcase was forty-six inches long by eighteen inches wide, the left side of the tank consisted of a land-mass type environment while the right side of the tank had clear, shallow water in it. He had worked pretty hard to get the land-mass part of the tank to look the way it was, he had made the land-portion of the tank higher than the water part of the tank by putting two slabs of rock in it and then he had put a fine lay of mixed dirt, gravel and sand substrate over that to make the land-mass part of the tank look natural. There were two, flat, cork bark pieces lying near the shallow water, in the far right corner of the left side of the tank there was a mass of Sphagnum moss, in the other corner of the left side of the tank there was an artificial tree bark stump that had a fake Mayan Fan Palm and a fake Rainforest Fern placed on either side of it. There were fake autumn leaves strewn about on the land-mass part of the tank and there were several, uncoiled, fake Ivy vines hanging down from the top of the land-mass part of the tank. The water-portion of the cage had decorative river rocks lining the bottom and there were two, small, logs floating in the water that had been specifically made for aquatic turtles. The entire back of the cage had a tropical background taped to it to give the turtles that were in the cage a little more comfortable setting. The glass aquarium had a heat-resistant screen top on it that had a low-wattage basking light and a reptile UVB light on it.

There were three small turtles in the cage, two that were on the floating turtle log and another that was on the land-mass part of the cage. The three turtles, all hatchlings, had cost him just five Yuan, he had purchased all three of them a week ago when he had decided to break one of his mother's rules in teleporting to a different country without telling her or getting her permission first. A vender in the Fangcun Market, a former area of the city of Guangzhou that was in the Guangdong Providence in South China, had been selling all sorts of turtles from softshell to aquatic to semi-aquatic and to land-based turtles. Two of the turtles that were in the semi-aquatic cage had a mostly red-brown shell that had a yellow spinal ridge while the third's shell was amber-colored, the third turtle also had a smoky spinal ridge going down the center of its shell as well. All three of the turtles had sharp, pointy, spikes running along the edges and spine of their shells, two of the turtles also had four or five spikes jutting up from between the spinal ridge and edges of their shells. He had hoped to be home before his mother had returned from work after he had purchased the turtles but, sadly, that had not happened. She had been forced to come home from work early after Guyunis had used the communicator that she had gotten him at the start of the month to tell her that he wasn't feeling well. He had come home at the same time that she had walked in through the front door, she had taken one look at him then she had gone upstairs to retrieve Guyunis. He had been given a short reprieve of punishment for an hour and a half while she had been dealing with taking Guyunis to the doctor to be checked out and then, after they had gotten home she had asked him where he had gone to get the turtles that he had come home with. He had found himself being grounded for a week after he had told her that he had gone off to South China, she had let him keep the turtles but she had said that if he went off to another country again without asking her for permission first he'd be getting worse than a simple, week-long, grounding. The week-long grounding hadn't really been all that bad, he had gotten a lot of inside and outside house chores to do and he hadn't been allowed to watch any tv or listen to any of his music or even leave the house to join his brothers in their out-of-the-house activities. All of his brothers knew about the turtles that he had brought back but, until now, none of them had really asked about them or had had the guts to come into his room to check them out.

"One euro note and then some euro coins," Hazaar replied, when Lazeer looked at him in sudden confusion he added, "I had some of my September allowance left over, I got it converted after I teleported to China. Had about twenty-five in euro bank notes on me and I found two, five dollar bills in American currency in two of my pants pockets. I converted it all to Chinese currency after I appeared in China."

"Was it a lot?" Lazeer asked.

"About fifteen in european money." Hazaar replied.

"You paid fifteen dollars for these three turtles?!" Lazeer exclaimed. "What are they? Do you know their species?"

"Spiny Turtle, Heosemys spinosa. Found mostly in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, use to be found in Brunei, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand." Hazaar replied, all of what he had just told his brother he had been told by the vendor that he had bought the three turtles from. According to the vendor that he had bought the turtles from, the humans had hunted the turtles to extinction in Brunei and Myanmar for their meat and for the pet trade while the species had disappeared from Singapore and Thailand after them two island countries flooded some four hundred and twenty years ago.

"Did you just get these?" Lazeer asked as he started to look at the turtles that were in the aquatic tank that was on the shelf under the semi-aquatic tank.

The cage that his brother was looking at now was the one that had cost him the most money and that housed two turtles that had replaced the ones that he had been interested in getting. Unlike his younger brother, who had gone out and spent all that he had in getting all that he had needed for his frog-keeping hobby, he had visited several pets stores in and around Elchesheim-Illingen. He had a lot to get, besides the fake plants and the substrate he would also need lights, water and food bowls and supplements that were specially made for land and water-based turtles he had also needed a water system that filtered the water in semi and fully aquatic cage environments and he had also needed two glass cages. After he had seen that he was right low in funds for all of that he had gone brother-bugging, he had bugged Lhaklar for the $50 that he had needed. It had taken all four days of his being a pester before his older brother had finally caved in and hd given him what he had needed, after Lhaklar had given him the $50 that he had bugged him about for four days he had gone shopping. He had decided to not use any of the money that he had on him to buy the cages with, he had made those by use of his powers, the other items he had bought from the pet shops that were in both Elchesheim-Illingen and Au am Rhein. After he had made his purchases and had made the two cages he had set to work in fixing the environments up, the cage that his brother was looking at now had a rather expensive water system in it that had cost him $30 and it also had a fine layer of river rocks all along its bottom.

The glass tank was the same size as the semi-aquatic tank that had the Spiny Turtles in but it's environment was completely different. There was about twelve inches worth of water in the tank, the water system was keeping the water nice and clear and healthy for the two turtles that were swimming about in the tank. There were three artificial, top fin Heart leaf plants, two artificial sword leaf plants and two artificial Begonia plants in the tank and there were also two Fin Rock cave ornaments in the tank that one of the two turtles were currently swimming around. A tropical, greenery background that he had taped to the back of the glass cage and three, floating Lily Pads completed the environment of the cage. The screen top that was on the cage had a UVB light and a low-wattage heat light on it and there was a temperature reader attached to the center of the cage that currently read fifty-five degrees fahrenheit.

"Must be happy, it's sm-..." Hazaar readied himself for it, his brother had not yet seen what the turtles that were in the fully aquatic tank looked like. "Dude! They have snake necks!"

He had actually been looking to buy one of them Chinese softshell turtles when he had been in Fangcun a week ago but that had not happened. Apparently, the Chinese softshell was reserved for only carnosaurs and restaurant owners, the Chinese only sold the turtle as a food source. He had asked three vendors if they'd sell him two of their Chinese softshell turtles and he had gotten a no each time, he had been forced to find a different type of turtle for the second tank. After his week-long grounding had ended he had asked his mother for permission to go to Australia. He had explained to her the reason why and he had told her that he had some money on him that he wanted to get converted into Australian dollars then he had gone quiet, she had given him her permission to go to Australia a few hours later after she had thought it over. He had found a slight problem after getting to the island country, the near $200 yuan that he had on his person would not bring him enough cash to buy one or two softshell turtles, if he would have converted the $97.56 yuan that he had had on his person he would have gotten a little over seventeen Australian dollars back. He had gone back home, he had gotten the yuans exchanged for European currency and then he had gone back to Australia. After he had exchanged the euros that he had had on his person for the Australian currency he had gone browsing. He had not been successful in finding a softshell turtle in Australia, they had none available but there had been plenty of the Eastern Long Neck Turtles available so he had purchased two of those.

Even though the two turtles that were in the aquatic tank weren't the softshell turtles that he had been looking for he did think that they were cool. The two turtles that were swimming about in the tank had broad, flat, shells that were mostly a dark green color with the areas between the shell scutes were a lighter green color. The plastron part of the shell was very broad, one of the turtles' plastron was a creamy color while the other turtle's plastron was yellow. It had been the neck of the turtle that had gotten his attention, it was long and narrow, the neck ran nearly all of the length of the two turtles that were in the aquatic tank which he found odd yet cool. Both of the turtles that were in the tank were young, they were just a few weeks old and, yes, like his younger brother had been about to say they did have a happy-look on their faces. Their mouth-structures were set in a smile-like fashion. The two turtles that were swimming around in the aquatic tank had cost him five Australian dollars each, he was near broke now but he was happy with the two turtle species that he had purchased.

"Man, you got five cool pets and I have squat." Lazeer mopped, Hazaar looked at him in shock.

"I thought you had gotten some frogs already," Hazaar said, his younger brother had actually had to get less than he in equipment and supplies for his frog-keeping hobby. "didn't you bring home something a week and a half ago after the rains slowed up?"

"Hell no! The book I bought says that the only real tree frog species in Germany is tiny, barely an inch long. I want something bigger than an inch." Lazeer replied. "I went out looking for a Salamander, this country has one, it's called a Fire Salamander. I haven't found one, I've looked all over for one. I've flipped logs and fallen trees and I've poked around in the leaf litter."

He could have gone and said _and you shall never find one because they are all hiding from you you little shit _but he decided against it when he saw how depressed his younger brother looked. Here he was, he had the animals that he wanted to get to be his pets and here was his younger brother, who did not have any of the animals that he wanted to bring home and call his pets. The first few days of the month it had rained pretty heavily, he and his brother had managed to get the supplies and equipment that they had needed for their hobbies but they had not been able to go out and get the animals to inhabit their cages because of the rain. After a four-day heavy rain the rains had slowed up, Lazeer had gone out with one of them plastic containers that had once contained lunch meat in it, he had said that he was going to start looking for a frog or something else that was an Amphibian to bring home. When his brother had come home with the container he had thought that his search had been successful and yet, here he was, hearing that his younger brother's searches had been for nothing. Was there any point in him being mean? In him pointing out that he had the animals that he had gone out to find and purchase while his brother had found nothing and had none of the animals that he wanted to have as pets in the cage that he had in his room? That was a no, there were times when it was okay to be mean and there were times when it was not time to be mean, this was the latter.

"Have any money on you?" Hazaar asked.

"Yeah, ten bucks." Lazeer replied. "Why?"

"Ask mom for permission to go to China," Hazaar said. "or some other country that is still under the shields that mom put up."

"What's the point?" Lazeer said as he got up from his crouched position. "Does China have frogs or salamanders?"

"Last I read, they have over two hundred species of amphibians." Hazaar said, his brother suddenly went from being in a glum mood to excited.

"D-do you think mom will let me?"

"Ask her, just don't do what I did when I went to get the Spiny Turtles. I was grounded for a week for not asking her for permission to go to a different country."

"Okay," Lazeer said, he turned and walked briskly out of his brother's room.

Even before he walked into the room that she was in she knew that he was looking for her and that he was going to ask her some type of question. It was one of them motherly instincts that told her when to expect one of her children to come rushing up to her to either ask her about something important or when one of her children needed some sort of comfort, it was a natural instinct and a helpful one at that as it just got her ready. At the moment, she had a little something else to worry about so she put the instinctive feeling that told her to expect one of her sons rushing up to her to ask her a question or to gain some sort of comfort over something to the side. She had a tube of Calamine lotion in her hand that she had just broken the seal of, the lotion was used as an anti-itching agent to treat conditions such as sunburn, rashes, poison ivy, insect bites and stings and Chickenpox and it just so happened that the tube that she had in her hand along with the other three that she had used that week were being used for the latter condition.

All of her biological children had been given the vaccine against Chickenpox but, instead of the vaccine doing anything to prevent the rash and the bumps and the itching it had actually made them get the virus. The vaccine, which had been made of a supposedly killed form of the virus, had actually contained a living virus that had gone dormant in her biological sons for a few hundred years. Bile and Lhaklar, even though getting a double dose of a highly evolved vaccine of the virus, had gotten the Pox when they had been three and four hundred years of age. They had both been agitated over the itchiness and she and Tazir had done all that they could to ease their symptoms, her two, older sons had had the Pox for a week and a half before the rash and the itchiness had gone away. Tazir had given them the Shingles - or the Codiliday, as he had called it - vaccine afterwards to keep them from getting the dormant virus that had hid away in her sons' nerve tissues. Hazaar had gotten Chickenpox when he had been four hundred and twelve years of age, he had been especially moody and he had been constantly scratching himself and driving himself and her mad. Lazeer had gotten a mild form of the virus when he had been only two hundred and three years of age, the rash and bump and itchiness hadn't been as bad with him as it had been with his older brothers but the fever had been worse for him though. It angered her to know that, of her five sons one of them had been completely neglected of getting his vaccinations. Although it hadn't really been a surprise to her that Guyunis had never gotten any sort of vaccinations when he had been a baby, it had angered her to find out that none of the people who had had him as their adopted child had taken him to a doctor to be vaccinated for any of the illnesses that could well hurt him later on in life.

Guyunis had been scared half to death when he had noticed the rash and the dark red bumps form on his pelvis, he had never had anything like what he seen a week ago show up on his body and no one had ever told him about the symptoms of the Chickenpox virus so he had had no idea what was going on. He had used the communicator that she had purchased for him earlier that month in a near panic, he had been near to crying and he had asked her if he should call a hospital or something. She had told him that she was coming home to take him to see a doctor, she had told him to just sit tight in his room until she got home and he had done so. The doctor that she had taken him to see had had to make up a medical file for him, she had had to fill out a bunch of forms on his family's medical history and then her son had been seen by the doctor. The doctor, a tall European man who had had short, brown hair that had been graying on the sides and blue eyes, had examined Guyunis then he had taken her to the side for a quick, and short, chat. The doctor, a Mr. Gustav Jollenbeck, had told her that her adopted son had only two other instances in the medical files from where he had been seen by a doctor for a bladder and genital infection, one of which had been near severe enough for the doctor that had seen him to consider sending him off to the hospital. The adoption records that she had did not include those two medical history's on her son, she had asked for a copy of each record of the medical check and the doctor had complied with her wishes, he had then prescribed Guyunis the Calamine lotion and then he had said for her to keep her son rested and comfortable which she was trying to do. Guyunis, for all of a week, had been kept on strict bed rest, except to get up to use the bathroom he was to remain in bed.

"When can I g-k-et out of bed, mum?" Guyunis asked, this was a daily question of his.

"When you're all better." Angel replied.

"Muuuuum!" Guyunis started to fret.

"Won't be much longer," Angel said, she squeezed a little bit of the lotion into the palm of her hand then she started to smooth it over Guyunis's chest. "a few days more, the rash and bumps are starting to go away and your fever is dropping."

"You said tha-k-t yesterday!" Guyunis exclaimed.

He had changed a little after being bullied nearly a month ago, after he had been bullied by the neighborhood kids after he and his two, younger brother had gone out together on the town he had not showed any desire to leave the house. She had had to be gently firm on the subject of his leaving the house several times after the first week of the month had rolled by. His brothers had all gone out to do things with their time while she had been at work while he had stayed upstairs in his room with his kitten. Along with tending his kitten he had done his models, he had read some of his magazines and he had read some of his books, the bullying had sadly also done something to his confidence levels as well. Her adopted son had started walking around inside the house with his hoody up, he had hid his face from her and from his brothers and the reason for that was because he had had a relapse in thinking himself to be hideous and ugly which, to her, wasn't true. She had said not a thing for the first week of his staying inside the house, when the second week of the month had rolled in she had started being firm on his leaving the house. He had gone out with Bile or Lhaklar at first for the first two days then he went out on his own, he had purchased his monthly magazine editions then he had done some shopping for his kitten and then, three days later, he had been stricken with the pox. Naturally, since he had no idea that Chickenpox couldn't be caught from the cold, he had thought that he had caught the virus by going out when it had been in the low sixties when that wasn't true. Both she and Dr. Jollenbeck had explained that he had contracted the virus from either the air, someone who had the virus had either coughed or sneezed near him and he had breathed it in, or he had come in contact with someone who had the virus or he had touched something that someone else who had the virus had touched. One of the many things that he had purchased for his kitten might have had the virus on it or the magazines that he had purchased had had the virus on it, he had asked her to clean each item that he had purchased for his kitten while she had been driving him back home and she had done so.

Although he had not gone out straight away to get Sabine, his now six-week and two-day old kitten, any enrichment items he had gotten her some nice things to keep her preoccupied after he had started leaving the house again. Sabine had a litter box that had a good layer of fresh-scenting cat litter in it and she also had a faux suede hooded cat bed that had a soft inside. Guyunis had also bought her a food and water bowl, a collar and several cat tickle wands. She had personally bought her son's cat some kitten food, a few bags of cat treats, a scratching post that also acted as a cat tree and one of those toys that had a long spring sprouting out of a teeter-totter type block. The long spring on the teeter-totter type block had a toy attached to it that had a bell inside it, her son's kitten was rather fond of all of her toys and her son appreciated her generosity in going out of her way to purchase things for his pet. Her adopted son was taking very excellent care of his kitten and his kitten was rather attached to him, whenever she went to check on her sons after they had gone off to bed for the night she would sometimes find the kitten all curled up on her son's bed near his head.

"I hate being-k here." Guyunis said, Angel blinked her eyes in surprise.

"You hate being where, G?" Angel asked. "In this house with us?"

"No," Guyunis replied quickly, he then pointed down at the floor of his room. "I hate being-k in here."

"Be a little more patient, it'll only be a few more days before you can get out of bed." Angel said, she screwed the cap on the Calamine lotion loosely then she handed it over to her adopted son. "Your chest, shoulders and stomach are nearly clear of the rash and bumps, your back is fully clear now. You can do the rest."

"I hate being-k sick." Guyunis said as he took the tube of lotion from his mother. "Never have liked it."

"No one ever does like getting sick, G." Angel said, she bent over and gave her adopted son a kiss on his forehead then she stood up straight. "If you need anything, shout for me. I'll be up here in three shakes of a lambs tail, okay. I love you."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you love me?"

"Because I'm your mother," Angel replied, Guyunis's face softened up with her words.

The kitten, she saw, was just climbing out from under her son's bed so she went to pick her up and then put her on her son's bed. It seemed strange that, nearly a month ago she had thought that the kitten was fully black. She had only seen the little creature's nose, which had been black, then so the idea that the cat was a fully black one had been pretty simple and innocent to her. Sabine was in no way a black cat, she had no idea how someone had been able to just up and leave a kitten that was as beautiful as the one that Guyunis had found but, whoever it had been had been one hell of an idiot. The kitten had a very unique calico colored coat, she had a three-inch white circle in the center of her chest and she had white toes but the rest of her was orange-brown and black. Her face was bi-colored, with the left side being orange-brown in color, the right side of the kitten's face was black. There were tabby stripes on the orange-brown portion of the kitten's face and, curiously, the kitten had different colored eyes, the kitten's left eye was blue while the kitten's right eye was green. She had a feeling that the kitten was a rare one, she had a feeling that the kitten demonstrated a rare condition or disorder called chimerism which happened when two embryos or fertilized eggs fused together while being in-utero. Sabine had probably absorbed one of her siblings after the sibling had passed away when they had still been in their mother's uterus. Angel picked the kitten up then she gently placed her on her owner's bed, with that having been done Angel turned around and left her son's room. She had no more closed the door behind her before feeling one of her son's tap her on her shoulder.

"Mom, can I go out?" Lazeer asked his mother the second she had turned to face him. Angel blinked her eyes for the second time in less than five minutes then she placed her hand flat across her son's forehead to feel if he had a temperature.

"You feeling okay, Lazie?" Angel asked her son. "It's only noon, it's not raining outside and you're asking me if you can go out."

"I feel fine, mom." Lazeer replied. "I was wondering if I could get your permission to go to China or some other country."

"What for?"

"To find some frogs or a salamander or something for the two cages that I have in my room."

"Don't you already have a frog?"

"No, Germany has only the tiny frogs. The inch-long ones, mom." Lazeer said. "I've also looked around for a salamander and I can't find one, I was wondering-..."

"If you could get my permission to go scouring another country to find some amphibian to capture and then bring home?" Angel finished for her son.

"Uh huh, uh huh." Lazeer nodded his head.

Angel sighed, it had rained quite a lot that month and her sons, minus Guyunis who had been stricken with chicken pox on the nineteenth, had only been allowed to go out about three days of the seven-day week. The last three days it had been sunny with a chance of rain only during the nighttime, her biological sons had gone out all of them three days. Here it was, September the 25th, bright and sunny outside and yet two of her four biological sons were sticking around in the house. That, she did find abnormal but she figured that Hazaar was just sticking around to gaze at the pet turtles that he had in his room, she figured that Lazeer had stuck around to take a look at the turtles and, possibly, to speak to his older brother about the fauna that was in the other countries around them. Lazeer had picked up frog keeping from Hazaar, after she had given his brother permission on keeping the Spiny softshell turtle that he had caught one day when he had been a right young kid when they had been living in Canada Lazeer had grown an interest in keeping frogs. The salamander-thing was new, salamander's were a different type of amphibian than a frog, she didn't think he'd have much luck on keeping a salamander but she wasn't going to tell him that. She figured that if he had a want and a need in wanting to try to keep a salamander as a pet then she shouldn't get in the way... as long as the animal stayed in its enclosure, that was. Now if she found any salamanders running amok in the laundry or crawling about on the carpets that were in the house or on the walls she'd be making sure that they were sent out with a suitcase, she had made damn sure of telling her young turtle and frog and salamander-keeping sons that.

"Where do you wish to go?" Angel asked.

"China or Vietnam or, you know, somewhere in Asia where there are frogs and salamanders a-plenty." Lazeer replied.

"Taking any money with you to get them or are you catching from the wild?" Angel asked.

"The wild, cheaper mom."

"True," Angel thought. "Honey, I'm not so sure a salamander is a good pet for you. They have poisons in their skin that can be harmful for you."

"I'll wear gloves, mom. I'll take one of the latex gloves that are in the box in the below the kitchen sink with me." Lazeer said.

"You have a cage for a salamander? Do you know how to take care of a salamander?"

"Yes, the one's I'm looking for are semi-aquatic. They like the land and the water." Lazeer replied.

"And, naturally, if I say no you're going to bug my crazy." Angel sighed.

"No, I won't." Lazeer crossed his heart.

"Curfew's seven o' clock, you remember that." Angel said. "Take one of your brothers with you. Where's Bile and Lhaklar?"

"Out, they left right after finishing their breakfasts." Lazeer said. "I don't know where they went or where they are... Hazaar is here though."

"Take him with you and I want both of you to have your communicators on you." Angel said, she then started to walk down the hallway. "I'll check in on you two every hour so you two make sure to have them communicators on you. There'll be trouble if I catch one or the other of you without them, hear me?"

"Crystal, mommy!" Lazeer said happily, Angel found herself being engulfed in one of them tightly given hugs a second later.

After getting permission to go to another country by his mother and then giving his mother a thank-you hug, Lazeer ran by her. He raced down the stairs then he went directly into the kitchen. The box of latex gloves had been newly purchased, his mother had purchased them just the day before for cleaning purposes but he had had better ideas of what to do with them rubber gloves. At supper the night before he had grabbed one of the gloves, he had blown it up then he had placed it on Bile's chair. Bile had no more sat in his chair before getting up again and he had laughed himself silly, his brother had not even bothered to look if he had played a prank on him or not. Their mother had gasped pretty loudly, Lhaklar had looked about to keel over from a heart attack and he had just laughed away, the only one who had not laughed at his little prank had been Hazaar; who had been upstairs at the time when their older brother had been pranked. Lazeer grabbed two pairs of the rubber, latex gloves - one for him and one for Hazaar should he choose to help him or look around for some other animal while he was looking for a frog or a salamander - and then he grabbed three plastic containers from one of the kitchen's cabinets. After he had the latex gloves and the containers he ran back upstairs. He ran into his room a few seconds later, he grabbed the goggled glass that he had left out on the surface of his dresser and then he ran across his room to the night table for the communicator that was on the night table's surface. He stuffed the communicator, a circular device that was taken up mostly by a big speaker and that had two buttons on its side, into his left side pants pocket and then he fitted the goggled glass over his left eye. He was getting the goggled glass's strap adjusted around his head when he walked into Hazaar's room.

"Hey, guess what!"

"Mom gave you permission to go to China." Hazaar said in an uninterested way, he was leaned back on his bed. He had one of his pornographic magazines in his hands.

"Yeah, she says that I'm to take you with me." Lazeer said, there was a sigh from his brother.

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks." Hazaar said. "Go get someone else to babysit you."

"Mom says for me to have one of my brothers come along with me. Since Bile and Lhaklar aren't available and since Guyunis is sick that leaves you." Lazeer said.

"I've had enough of China for the month," Hazaar said, a pair of latex gloves suddenly slapped up against the back of his magazine. "Hey! Mom taught you like she taught me how not throw things at people!"

"Get up off of your lazy ass, grab your communicator and let's go." Lazeer said.

"If I do this will you leave me the hell alone afterwards?" Hazaar said, he tossed the magazine over onto his night table then he snatched the latex gloves up from the bed. "I can't even read a magazine and get in a good one because of your pathetic ass."

"Bring your magazine with you then, who says you have to wear them gloves for animal searching?" Lazeer said. "Mom says to bring-..."

"I heard you the first time you little shit!" Hazaar snapped, he grabbed the magazine that he had been reading before his younger brother had barged into his room and then he pulled his communicator out from the wall socket where he had put it to charge earlier that morning.

As his employer's two, younger sons were teleporting to an area in China that had a forest with a water source running through it, he was having a time with his co-worker. Normally, Homsi would speak a little when they were on assignments together but, on this one, particular week the Goblin was very quiet and to himself. He figured that a majority of the reason for his co-worker's quietness was due to it being the middle part of Family Week, he and his co-worker had both made the decision to spend only a few days of the holiday with their family's before returning back to Earth to resume the search for their employer's wife and sons. Homsi, like himself, was big on family and he was big on spending holidays with his family but, unlike he who had problems with his in-laws and who had had nothing out of the ordinary to deal with with his younger offspring in the past few months, Homsi had no problems with his in-laws and he was dealing with a little something that had driven him into a sort of grumpish manner. Almost two months ago his co-worker had showed up at work looking different, he had been wearing his usual attire and he had still looked like himself in the face and he had acted like himself but he had still looked a little different.

It had taken everyone all of an hour after Homsi had showed up for work to finally notice what was off about the Goblin. Homsi was a Goblin who, instead of having hair growing out from the top or sides of his head, had hair growing out from the inside of his elf-like ears. He looked odd but he did take good care of the hair that grew out from his ears, the hair that usually came out from his ears was a light gray color and it was usually kept at only three and a half to four inches long. When Homsi had showed up lacking that ear-hair, as Mekaia referred to it, everyone had been both wondering what was new with the guy and there had been a few that had asked who the new guy was. Master Tazir, who had not been at home with Mr. Modulavich had walked in lacking his ear-hair, had no idea that his Most Trusted Goblin butler had changed his appearance. Homsi had said not a thing about the reason why he had decided to lop off his locks of ear-hair to no one for nearly two weeks and no one had really had the guts to ask him why he had changed his appearance for all of them two weeks. The only one who had had the guts to ask the man why he had gone and changed his appearance had been one of the maids.

Nayleena Jayl, the maid who had had the guts to ask Homsi about his sudden change in appearance, had told his daughter who had told him what had happened for Homsi's to suddenly appear at work without his ear-hair. Homsi and his wife had two, twin toddlers that were in their three hundred year ranges and their two twins were in that stage where they were picking up anything that was around within reach. They were now picking up and playing with things that they shouldn't be playing with and they were also picking up and saying things that they shouldn't be saying. Apparently, one of the twins had happened on a pair of scissors that had been left out on the table that was in their parents' kitchen and Homsi, their old poppa bear, had been at home, catching a snooze on the couch after a difficult day at work. One of the twins had snipped all of their father's ear-hair, Homsi had been woke up during the process of his kid's de-hairing him after his kid had caught the tip of his ear in the scissors. The light gray ear-hair that usually was three and a half or four inches long had grown back, it was back to sticking out from the Goblin's ears and it was now two and a half inches long but he still looked somewhat odd and Eldass had a feeling that his co-worker knew that. There had been no snickering or jokes being played on Homsi, Eldass figured that if the same thing had happened to him he would have changed into being a sort of quiet and to-himself type of guy too... and, naturally, whoever of his children who had done the hair snipping would be getting a right good spanking as well.

"Olok, what is your and your brother's location?" he tapped out the message quickly on his cellular phone.

He and Homsi were seated in front of the shield that was area the town of Au am Rhein, a little town in South Germany that had a small populace of some five hundred individuals. The plagues had also struck hard in Europe and Asia, he and Homsi had happened on several deserted towns and cities and several towns and cities that had a low population count. The city of Karlsruhe that was some miles up north of their location had a population of over ten thousand in it, a far cry from what it had had over three hundred years ago. Au am Rhein was near other low-population towns; Durmersheim led the town-population levels in the area, there were just over three thousand humans living in that town while Bietigheim had a little over six hundred and Steinmauern had a little under two hundred humans living in it. Another town nearby, Elchesheim-Illingen, had a population of just under four hundred in it. All of these towns had once had a population count of over five thousand, the last plague had really plunged the human race down in numbers. The reason why he and Homsi were not searching the town and were, instead, sitting in front of the shield that was outside of the town was because of the being that they had decided to watch and take notes on. One of their employer's nephew's employee's had been pretty interested in this area and in the neighboring Elchesheim-Illingen, Durmersheim and Karlsruhe areas the past few days and they were wanting to know why.

The location that the Claydo had picked to stand near was a weird one, neither he or Homsi could figure out why the man had decided to stand near the Au am Rheim's town dump. The air was ripe, it stunk something awful and there were clouds of black drifting up from numerous areas in the dump that only the Gods knew what contained. There were heaps of trash and debris all over the dump grounds, there were broken board piles and piles of discarded items that looked not worthy enough to be sitting around in an old, smelly dump and there were several small trails of brackish water that flowed out of the shield into the river that raged behind them. He and Homsi had wisely brought cans of bug spray and lotions with them the past two days to ward off the multitude of insects that were flying about outside of the shield. He had a small gun on him and Homsi had a large knife as well to ward off any animals that decided to come into their area looking for an easy meal.

"E. Zultoa, in China at the moment." the reply message from Olok Gzujus said. "Yunnan, to be specific. Mountainous area. Very forested, very wet and insect-loaded. Cannot see how anyone can live here."

"Better there than here," Eldass thought. "least you two have clean air to breathe in, Homsi and I will probably be sucking on an air tube in a few hours."

When he and Homsi had said yes to their employer's asking them to go to Earth to look for his wife and sons who had just recently been discovered they had not really been thinking about the area that they were looking in. They were sure that Mistress Angel and the Young Master's were not on the North and South American continents, why would they be there when that foul Master Vile was reeking havoc there? Master Tazir had asked for them to check the shielded parts of Earth for his wife and sons and that was what they had planned to do... until they had seen the largeness of the areas that they had blindly said that they'd look in. There was over one million square feet of space that they had blindly said that they'd check, there was Europe and Asia and Africa and the island nations and... oh shit, there was even India and Australia. All them areas still had their employer's wife's shields over them, any one of them areas could be the area where the Claydo had seen and had photographed their employer's sons. The second they had noticed what they had gotten themselves into they had called their employer, they had both told him that the vastness of the areas under the shields were just too much for them two alone. They had asked him if he could get a few others to come to Earth to assist in the search and the man had graciously said yes. He had sent Olok Gzujus and his twin brother, Ulok along with several other co-workers of theirs to search inside the shields. He and Homsi had started their search in England and Britian on the 18th of September, they had also searched parts of France and Spain. Four days ago Homsi had decided to do a change in the area that was next for them to search, he had checked one of the photographs that the Claydo that they were currently keeping their eyes on and he had noticed a little something in the photograph that their employer had missed.

Homsi had not seen the photographs that their employer's nephew's employer had taken, he had asked their employer for copies of the photographs so he could see if there were any hidden clues in them that would give away where the Claydo had been when he had seen and had taken the Young Master's pictures. Master Tazir had done so, he had spell-sent copies of all the photographs over to Homsi and Homsi had looked them all over. Four days ago he had noticed a small, barely readable, word in the photograph of Young Master Lhaklar that looked non-English. He had checked it over with a magnifying glass and then he had blown the photograph up to see the word better. The humans in the country of Germany spoke the Ghungmur language pretty well and they sometimes put certain Ghungmur words up on their building's signs. The word that Homsi had noticed was a simple one, why one of the humans had put the word Hastig; which meant hasty, on one of their building's windows was beyond both of them and why Young Master Lhaklar had been going into the building that had the word Hastig on its windows was a mystery to them. The word had given Homsi a clue as to one of the places where their employer's missing family could be and he had decided to go there, seeing the Claydo's mysterious activities of standing and taking notes in this part of the country had been just as mysterious.

"He just took a photograph of something." Homsi said, Eldass looked up from his cellular phone quickly. The brown furred, Claydo that had a red imperial outfit on that was standing nearly fifty feet from them was lowering what looked like a camera of some sort.

"Did you see what it was that he was photographing?" Eldass asked.

"No, thought I did for a second but then whatever it was ducked down out of view." Homsi replied. "I think it was he who took the photographs of the Young Master's."

"Looks too prepared to not be the guy who did so." Eldass said. "Who walks around with a notepad, a pen or pencil and a camera for no reason and who sticks around dumps for no reason anyways."

"Someone looking for trouble or someone who knows something." Homsi replied, he then started to move off from behind the bushes that he and Eldass had been standing behind. "Hang tight here, I'm heading in to see what it is that he decided to snap a photograph of."

"Make sure to use your camera if its one of the Young Master's." Eldass said as his co-worker walked off.


	17. Chapter 17

Au am Rhein had a small dump but a good dump full of hidden treasures that he had quickly discovered the second he had started coming to the dump near two weeks ago. A pile of broken boards might have a board that wasn't broken or a board that had no nails sticking out of it. A pile of junk might harbor something of value or something that one of the humans had just decided to toss because they didn't want it anymore. There were cans lying all around, they could be used for target practice for a kid's BB gun or a real gun or, say for someone like he who had magical powers, a target to practice shooting his energy beams, rays and bolts at. There were tables that had a leg that could easily be patched up, there were couches and chairs that were in near perfect condition that someone could take home and there were rugs that had all sorts of wild or beautiful designs on them in the Au am Rhein dump. He had a small pile of stuff behind him that he had plans to take home with him, all good stuff that he was sure his mother and younger brothers would love.

There was a brass turtle clock that's shell had a hinge on it in the small pile behind him. The clock that was under the hinged shell had roman numerals on it. He had been surprised when he had found that piece, some human had tossed because he or she was lazy, the hinged back only needed a new hinge on it for the clock to be like new. Since one of his younger brothers had a thing for turtles and since one of his younger brothers had gone out and gotten a few turtles as pets he was sure that the turtle clock would be appreciated. Lazeer liked boats, he had found him a completed boat model of a Chinese Junk Pirate boat and he had also found his youngest brother a nickel-silver rowing boat model that had a stainless steel armature oarsman in it as well. Both of them items were in pristine condition, all he'd need to do was given them a gentle cleaning before handing them over to Lazeer. There were two car models; a 1950's Mercedes and a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ, in the pile behind him, those were for Lhaklar who liked classic cars.

Why a human would toss a perfectly fine leather jacket was beyond him but he had discovered five men's leather jackets in one of the junk piles. There was a dark brown, a dark red, two black and there was also a normal brown leather jacket that had tassels hanging down from the shoulders in the small pile behind him. He and his brothers would be jacket-wearing in style come time for winter, all he had to do was clean the jackets off. He had several things for his mother in the small pile behind him, a rich brown leather designer handbag for starters along with a tan leather coin purse and one of them German-made, German-silver mesh purses. Humans throw out anything, when he had been living in both Canada and the United States he had been surprised at what all they tossed in the trash and it was no different here in Germany. The knee-high black dress that had tassels hanging down from around the low-hanging neck had been a fine surprise find for him, he was sure his mother would love that and he was also sure that she'd like the low-heel black satin evening shoes that he had also found for her. He had a lot to take home with him, a lot to keep him busy for the next day or two. He even picked up some stuff for Guyunis, his adopted brother who was sick and stuck in bed at home.

"Bile, yo, Bile!" he didn't so much drop the board that he had been holding, it slipped out of his hand before he had a chance to get a good grip on it. He had nearly forgotten about the kid that he had met after he had arrived at the Au am Rhein dump. He was a local of the town that the dump belonged to, he was nineteen years old and he seemed okay, maybe a little slow upstairs but okay. Bile turned around quickly, he made the pile of stuff that he had found while "junk checking" - as Lhaklar called it - disappear from where it was. All of the things that he had found were relocated to the room that he and his brothers had created together a month ago that was under the back yard.

"Slow up there, Angus." Bile said when the brown-haired, nineteen year old kid ran into view. The kid had blue eyes in a long face, he was wearing a pair of jean shorts, a white muscle shirt and black shoes. "There's no stretcher here in this place for me to carry you on after you hurt yourself."

"This might interest you," Angus said, he held out a poster that was 12 inches wide by 12 inches long. "found it by the old man's tractor."

And, by his saying of "the old man" Bile knew that the kid had stolen something from one of the dump handler's that were also in the dump with them. Bile looked down at the poster, he nearly burst out laughing when he saw that it really wasn't a poster but a cartoon and not just any old cartoon either. It had his father, Dark dad as he called him, in it but Dark dad was shown not as his real self. Dark dad was wearing a woman's dress, he had badly put on make-up on his face and there was women's lipstick on his lips and he had a snake coiled around one of his legs that looked rather bored. The caption above the cartoon said _Since when does Evil mean sissy anyways? _which he found hilarious. Two weeks ago his father cut off all trading traffic going to and from the island nations and mainland Europe and Asia by way of creating a blue energy beam that prevented all sea-faring vessels from reaching trade ports, in the American papers he was quoted as saying "Europe and Asia and the island nations will bow down and admit defeat to me by way of economic troubles spurred by no trade commerce". Everyone in the island nations and in Europe and Asia had laughed, his mother had just finished creating some underwater tunnels that the people of Europe, Asia and the island nations could use to trade through a few days earlier just to prevent what his father was trying to do. His father's little attempt to "economically starve and cripple" Europe, Asia and the island nations had been all for nothing. Dark dad had watched the sea-faring vessels go back and forth from Europe, Asia and the island nations that had been carrying all the trade goods for a few weeks before he had put up the energy beams, some of his stationed troops had actually captured five after the energy beams had been put up, it was estimated that some fifty persons had been taken captive two weeks ago. No one knew what had happened to the people that had been taken captive, it was known that as soon as everyone that had been on-board the boats had been take captive and then removed from the boats that the boats had been set ablaze. It was estimated that over a ten thousand in medical supplies, clothing and food had been destroyed.

"They should have made the caption say something on mid-life crisis or something like that." Bile said.

"That's what I was thinking when I saw it." Angus said. "My dat says that he has two other kids, is that true?"

"Yeah, besides me and ma there's two others." Bile replied.

"They evil too or are they like you and your mum?"

"They're evil," Bile replied. "one thinks she's all that and a bag of chips when she's not while the other is a doofus."

"Ha! Evil makes a dumb child. That's a hoot!" Angus laughed, he then changed the subject. "Your mum into dolls?"

"Dolls?"

"Yeah, there's a pile over behind me that has all sorts of dolls in it." Angus said, he turned around and started to walk off. "Come on, they're good dolls. Think some of them are made of that porcelain stuff."

His mother had never really showed any interest in collecting anything, she had always accepted what he and his brothers had brought back for her but he doubted if she had an interest in porcelain dolls. He knew very little about the things, he knew that they were made of a break-able material and that they were rather fragile and he also knew that they were highly collectable and that was about it. Bile followed the kid over a hill and then around three piles of stuff that smelled right bad, the reason why he had picked the far right side of the Au am Rhein dump was because the smell wasn't as bad and the pickings were better. Angus was leading him towards the center of the dump where massive piles of junk stood ready for the tractors to come in and get them and where there were little streams of brackish water that had clumps of unimaginable gunk on their banks. It seemed like forever before the kid stopped, Bile was sure that his mother would be complaining when he went home about the smell that he had on him. The odor was strong, it was disgusting and he didn't much like it. The air was thick with the smell and the ground underfoot was sticky and damp, with every step that he took he felt his brown boots sink into the mud.

"Pee-yew! Man, why the hell did you lead me this far again?" Bile said, he was struggling to not hold his nose.

"Because of the dolls." Angus said.

"My ma isn't going to let me come into the house, she's going to insist that I take a quick shower with the water hose to get some of the stink I have on me off." Bile said.

"Don't think of the smell, just search the heaps and be happy." Angus said, he then added, "My dat will probably do the same as your mum."

There were three small piles of junk in front of them, one that had broken pieces of furniture in it while another had trash and broken glass items, the third pile that was farthest from them had many dolls in it that were wearing fancy dresses. Bile walked over to the pile that had the dolls in it, he struggled to not pinch his nose closed as he searched through the pile of dolls and he struggled to not puke as well. Again, he found himself amazed at what a human would throw out. There were several dolls, some that were made of porcelain while others were made of wood. As he sifted through the dolls he started to think that if his mother didn't want the dolls or if she wasn't interested in the dolls he could still take them home, clean them up and then take them to some pawn shop or some other place that sold old antique items. Each of the dolls that he picked up and put off to the side looked rather antique and expensive. There was a Victorian doll that had brown hair and eyes that was wearing a Victorian dress that needed her hair washed. There was blonde haired, blue-eyed doll that was wearing a blue dress and that had an umbrella attached to one of its hands that needed a few tears in its dress mended and there was a doll that had black hair and black eyes that was wearing a full yellow dress that had nothing wrong with it. He put all of those to the side then he dug into the pile deeper, before long he had several other dolls on the pile that also looked rather old and expensive. A Native American porcelain doll that was wearing a Native American dress, a China porcelain doll that was wearing a Chinese dress, an India porcelain doll that's top half was exposed but that had an Indian outfit and jewelry on and a naked porcelain doll that had orange hair and blue eyes that was pregnant found themselves being placed on the pile that he was taking home with him. The last thing that he found in the pile he decided he was going to keep for himself, it was an outrageous Rabbit-monster thing that had bugged out, yellow and white eyes and big, yellow teeth.

"Now I know I will need to shower off outside the home before going in," Bile said after he had looked at his hands that were rather grimy. "That should do it. If my ma don't like any of the dolls I can still clean them up and sell them."

"No shit man," Angus said, he slapped Bile on the shoulder then he started to walk off. "if we're done here, let's go find a shed to smoke in."

"My ma said not to follow strangers into sheds." Bile said. "What kind of smoke you got on you?"

"Panama Red," Angus said. "rare stuff, super rare and really good."

Being a weed smoker he knew well what Panama Red was, he had smoked it only twice but in both of those times he had gotten a pretty good high. From just taking two puffs from a joint that had Panama Red in it he had gone from being his old, normal self into being a rather loopy and peaceful being that had no care in the world. Panama Red wasn't only rare now, it was damn expensive, he had spent nearly $300 just to get enough for one joint on the two times that he had smoked the stuff. Bile did a spell to send the dolls that he had discovered home then he followed Angus away from the center of the dump at the same time that his two, younger brothers were starting to get on each other's nerves. Lazeer had done a minor beg and plead session with Hazaar on his going along with him to the Dulongjiang river, a river that was located in the heavily forested part of Yunnan, China. Hazaar had wanted to go to a less forested area but, after his younger brother had started his beg-and-plead routine on him he had relented just to shut him up. Lazeer, the second he had teleported to the location, started to flip the rocks and tree limbs that were near the river's banks while Hazaar simply stood around for a while before deciding to find a place to sit and read the magazine that he had brought along with him. They had only been in the area for twenty minutes before they had started to get on each other's nerves.

"Why the hell are you looking for a salamander anyways?" Hazaar said from the rock that he was sitting on. "You won't take care of it, it'll be dead within a week's time."

"Will not, salamander's are like frogs in a lot of ways and they have similar environmental habitats." Lazeer said, he was twenty feet away.

"Frogs are land-based animals you idiot." Hazaar sniffed. "Salamanders are water-based animals."

"Not all of them," Lazeer said. "some species of salamanders like both-..."

"Whatever, just don't go crying when the animals die on you." Hazaar said.

They were in a rather hot and humid tropical area, the trees that were around them and that were on the other side of the river were big and most of them had vines that twisted around their trunks. The soil was very wet, Lazeer had nearly lost one of his shoes twice when he had stepped into a particularly wet patch of soil. There were all sorts of insects flying about, sometimes when he looked up he'd catch his brother swatting at a mass of insects with both his hand and the pornographic magazine that he had. In the twenty minutes that he had been in the area he had flipped over between fifteen to twenty rocks, he had found a few animals hiding under the rocks but not the ones that he was looking for. He had seen two, ugly brown frogs, a black newt that had a rather pretty red stripe going down the underside of its tail and a red-brown frog that had a red stripe going down its back so far. So far, he hadn't seen any snakes but he was on the look-out for any that could be nearby and he was also being careful of not reaching for anything that he saw without double-checking to see if the thing that had interested him didn't have a predator coiled up near it. He had very nearly decided on picking up the black newt that had the red stripe on the underside of its tail and putting it in one of the containers that he had tied around his waist but, at the last-minute, he had decided against it. He was looking for an animal that was over six inches long, the newt that he had seen had only been four inches long and it had looked fully grown too.

"Plenty of things to do back home, sit and read a magazine or two, watch my turtles as they walk around in their environments, watch some tv or listen to some music and yet here I am..." Lazeer heard his older brother say. "babysitting my young brother who is old enough to go out on his own."

He shook his head, it was only typical that his older brother's brain and temper switches would be flicked on after he had seen his precious turtles. Hazaar had always been a bit of a hot-head but, as of the past hundred or so years his hot-headedness had increased. He was in deep with that Temperamental Phase that he was going through, it was strange because he was going through the same phase as well but his overall temperament hadn't changed much. He was moodier than usual, he was embarrassed by the increase in emotions that he was experiencing because of the phase that he was going through and he was getting into more fights with his brothers than he usually did but his temperament hadn't changed much. A few weeks ago, before Guyunis had come down with the chicken pox, he had asked what he had been like when he had gone through the Temperamental Phase. Guyunis had not answered his question, he had simply looked down at his plate of steak, green beans and potatoes. Their mother had taken Guyunis to the side after supper to ask him what was wrong and why he had not answered his question, Guyunis had told her about what all had happened when he had gone through the phase.

It had been about two hundred and eighty-four years ago that he had gone into the Temperamental Phase, he had been one thousand, six hundred and seventeen years old at the time so he had experienced the phase a little later than usual. He had been a ward of Mandy and Lukas Meyer, the couple had inherited him after their parents, Lulu and Randolf Meyer, had passed away. When he had gone into his Temperamental Phase he had been super angry and super destructive and Mandy and her husband, Lukas, had dealt with that by beating him up with a metal pipe and a length of chain. Their son, Bruno Meyer, and his wife, Petra, had done the same seventy years later when they had inherited Guyunis and then their son, Arthur, and his wife, Sally Mueller, had done the same thing forty-seven years later after Bruno and Petra had died. Lazeer couldn't believe how mean the Meyer family had been to his adopted brother, they had beat him for his experiencing the Temperamental Phase, they had beat him for using his powers and they had forced him to do all of the house chores so they didn't have to. Lazeer had not been a bit surprised that, after his adopted brother had relayed all of this to their mother, he had broken down. Why the Meyer family, and all of the other families that had had his older brother, had treated Guyunis the way they had was beyond him, he personally wished that a time machine would be invented somewhere so he could travel back in time to when his brother had been abused. He'd be dishing out a lot of payback for his brother's behalf if such a device did exist.

"Jeez! Why the fuck did you pick this location again?" Hazaar snapped, Lazeer looked back in time to see his brother swat as a horde of mosquitos that seemed to be flying around his head.

"Awww, they missed you." Lazeer said, he just couldn't stop himself from making a joke out of his brother's misfortune. "Look at them swarm around your big, ol' head."

"They're annoying as fuck!" Hazaar jumped down from the rock that he had been sitting on, he slid the magazine under his shirt then he walked over to where his brother was.

The insects were not bothering him for some reason, they seemed very attracted to Hazaar and he had a feeling that it was because of what he was wearing and what he had done to his hair that morning. Hazaar was wearing a pair of dark red pants, he had dark red shoes on his feet and he had a red shirt on that had dark red blood dripping down from its collar. Hazaar had trimmed his deep purple rattail that morning after it had grown out to five inches but, instead of tossing out the hair that he had severed from his head he had done a spell to make a long strand that was ten inches long. He had braided two sections of the strand of hair that he had cut off from his rattail and then he had slid all sorts of red and purple beads, before he had exited the upstairs bathroom he had glued the strand of severed hair to a strand of hair that came out from his head. The glued strand of hair that was hanging down from his brother's rattail stretched down his back about seven inches, his brother claimed that it was something new that he was trying out that morning at breakfast.

Lazeer went back to work in flipping rocks, his brother followed him for a short while then he stopped and simply stood and watched. Lazeer was on his fifth rock flipping when he suddenly found something that he wanted to take home and call a pet. As he slid the latex gloves on his hand he kept his eyes on the animal that he had just uncovered, it was a rather pretty animal and it looked full-grown. The amphibian was about eight inches long and it had a black body but its legs, tail, spine and head was orange, there were orange dots running along the sides of its back. Lazeer quickly pulled one of the containers that he had tied around his waist down, he picked the amphibian up from where he had found it as he was opening the container. The amphibian seemed to be very calm in his hand, it was just lying in the palm of his hand, it wasn't trying to jump or run away from him which he liked a lot. He put the amphibian in the container then he went back to looking for more.

"Good, you got one. Now let's get out of here!" Hazaar said, he was reaching for his brother's arm when his brother pulled away from him.

"Hell no, I want one or two more of those." Lazeer said. "If you want to leave do so, you're doing nothing more than running your mouth anyways."

"Running m-..." Hazaar exclaimed, he then rushed over and gave his brother a shove. "You little shit! I don't want to be here, I want to be back at h-..."

"Then go, I don't need you anyways." Lazeer snapped. "You're not helping anyways, all you're doing is crying and complaining about how you can't do what you want to do and about how the bugs are annoying you."

"That is not true!"

"Yes it is."

"Mom said for you to have a babysitter-..."

"Mom said for one of my brothers to come along with me, she didn't say for one of my brothers to be my babysitter." Lazeer said.

"Yes she did, when she said for one of your brothers to go with you she meant for one of us to babysit you." Hazaar said.

"I've been going out on my own long before I got my goggled glass, I think she knows that I don't need a babysitter anymore." Lazeer said.

"Dude! You're the annoying younger brother, that means you will always have one of your older brothers tag along to be your babysitter." Hazaar said as he lunged for Lazeer's arm again, instead of grabbing his brother's arm he found his brother turning around and then swinging his fist at him.

When he and his brother had agreed to search the area known as Yunnan, China they had thought that it'd have maybe four of five communities and that it'd be flat but, once they had teleported to the area and had started looking around at their surroundings that idea had been swiftly forgotten. He and his brother had wandered for nearly two hours before they had come upon the first village, which had had a population of under three hundred in it. They had searched that village, had found nothing then they had gone on to look for the next village. In total, they had searched ten villages and two towns and one city, all that had a population of under two thousand people. Most of the area that they had searched was covered in either subtropical or tropical forest or tall grass or sugar cane. It was hot, it was humid and like he had told Eldass a few minutes ago there were plenty of insects swarming about. He and his brother had not left their shared apartment under their employer's mansion home on Moas without their thigh-high rubber boots and a pair of gloves but they had forgotten all about bringing the can of bug spray and the lotion, he had been swatting at mosquitos and at any other flying or crawling insect that decided to jump and land on them for hours now.

Them thigh-high rubber boots had come quite in handy during their time in the area, his twin had nearly stepped on a red and black banded snake and three snakes had snapped at him but, thanks to their rubbers no snake had injected its venom into their bodies. They had come across several species of deer and they had also come across a herd of what looked like a bovine-like animal twice during their travels between the villages, towns and cities and they had seen plenty of birds. They were near a river now, a large river that was starting to now narrow itself out, they had seen plenty of amphibians while walking alongside the river but the one that was going to remain in their memory banks forever was the one that they had mistaken for a log. His brother had actually stepped on the big, dark brown creature that had been lying straight out on the riverbank, they had wasted no time in running away after the creature had snapped itself up and then around towards them. The creature, they had both guessed, had been around six feet long with a creamy underside, it had had four legs and a powerful-looking tail and one hell of a big mouth. Neither of them had dared to head back to get a second look at the creature, they had given it a wide and respectful berth and it had not appeared again to chase or surprise them.

"What say that we put in a short five-minute break for lunch." he said.

"You and your stomach must have decided to gang-read my mind, Mr. Former-Serirsepp." his replied.

"Should we dine in safety up in a tree or shall we find a rock to sit on, Mr. Former-Aeyuzuun." he said in return.

"Shade is best, the sun is baking me alive." his brother replied.

They crossed into the deep grass, one following the other, then they started to search around for a tree that's branches and leaves offered plenty of shade and that had a rock or something underneath it for them to sit on. By the time that they had found such a tree their clothes were dark with sweat, the brother that was leading the way was breathing slightly heavy and he was starting to stagger in his walk, when they found the tree to sit under they went to it quickly. Olok practically picked his twin up when they reached the rock that was under the tree, when it came to his getting up on the rock he found himself struggling. When they were both on the rock they just sat and stared out at the landscape around them. Off to the west there was tall grass, they saw the heads of several deer poke up from the tall grass after a loud growl was heard. To the east there was thin forest while behind them the forest became thick, the river was churning violently directly in front of them. It seemed like forever before Olok lowered the brown bag from his shoulders, he swung the bag around then he placed it on his lap. He rummaged around in the bag for a few seconds then he pulled out two bottles of water, he handed one of the bottles over to his brother then he opened his own.

"Water, the most precious thing in the universe." Ulok said after he had gotten a drink from the water bottle that his twin had handed him.

"That five-minute walk near killed you, U." Olok said.

"It's hot and humid out here," Ulok said, he then pointed at the river. "you know the name to that river?"

"Dulongjiang," Olok replied. "one of the locals in the last village we went through said it was the Dulongjiang river."

"Splits off from the Pearl river, it's a tributary. Flows right into north Vietnam." Ulok said.

"Had we not of encountered that beast earlier I'd of jumped right in for a swim." Olok said as he began to sift through the items that were in his bag.

"That beast had a roar to it." Ulok said back, he then went quiet.

Olok looked up from the contents that were in his bag for only a second then he resumed the search for the lunch box that he had slipped into the bag early that morning. He and his twin had each packed a bag before leaving their apartment and most of the stuff that were in the bags was the same. Olok had a rolled up, blue tuxedo jacket in his bag while Ulok had a rolled up, white tuxedo jacket in his, they had both removed their tuxedo jackets after the heat had rolled into the area that they had decided to do their searching in. Olok had a black lunchbox in his bag, he had a first aid kit and a container that had heat-related medications in it that he had figured would come in handy. They both had their walkies in their bags but their cellulars were still connected to their belts, Olok had used his cellular several times when Eldass and Abevo Speelin had message him while Ulok had used his only twice that day. They both had video cameras in their bags, there were normal cameras and plenty of camera film canisters in their bags and they also had several cold snaps just in case one or the other had a heat-related problem and needed to be cooled off fast. There were no towels or rags in the bags, they had forgotten all about bringing one of those. Olok pulled the black lunchbox that was in his bag out after a minutes worth of searching, he unzipped it quickly then he flipped the top out of the way.

"My eyes do deceive me I think," Ulok said. "that's not one of your favorite sandwiches is it?"

"Mmhmm, lettuce, tomato and pickle on pumpernickel bread." Olok replied.

"Yuck, your food tastes are revolting." Ulok said.

"Yeah, well I saw a certain someone making one of them Allota Fat sandwiches this morning." Olok said.

"Yum, a sandwich that has tons of pork fat and gravy on it." Ulok said as he swung his brown bag around to his lap. "Added a tomato and a piece of squash to it at the last minute."

"Gross, walk behind me after you consume that please."

Olok ate his sandwich in silence then, when he was done with his sandwich, he went for the jar of apple sauce that had chunks of pineapples in it. Ulok, after he had finished his sandwich, took out a tupperware container that had some peppered carrot slices in it from his lunchbox, he and his twin shared these along with the chocolate raspberry mini muffins that Ulok also had in his lunchbox. The last thing that they ate in silence was the lemon raspberry bars that Olok had added to his lunchbox at the last moment that morning. They drank plenty of water and then they simply sat on the rock after they had finished their lunches, the river that was five minutes away cast up a silver shine that both Goblins liked. It reminded them of how lucky they were in being together and in having an employer who was nice and respectful. Neither were much bothered over the fact that they were missing out on the festivities of Family Week, their adopted families had disowned them many thousands of years ago after they had both started looking for their mirrored selves. As they saw it, they were being involved in Family Week, they were a family of two and they got along very well even though they had not been raised together.

"Hey! Cool!" they heard someone who had a gruff, hoarse-sounding voice say off in the distance.

"Whelp, guess that means break-time is over." Olok said, he slid his now empty lunchbox back into his bag quickly before zipping it up. His brother was doing the same thing beside him. "Trouble is not needed between us and the locals."

"What is it that you found this time?" another voice, a tough sounding voice, reached their ears.

"A cool ass frog!" the person who had the gruff and hoarse voice said back.

"Big whoop!"

"The resident locals in this area hunt, catch, sell and eat frogs." Ulok said as he adjusted the shoulder strap of his brown bag. "They either will eat them whole or they'll just eat the legs. Most of the time, they eat the frogs raw."

"I think I prefer food to be cooked and I think I also prefer fish to frogs," Olok said, he started to lead his brother away from the tree that they had eaten lunch under.

They started off by heading back to the riverbank but, after the two voices grew louder and closer they decided to walk alongside the thin forest. They could both tell that the two voices belonged to kids and they could also tell that the two kids were of the male gender, one of the kids seemed rather agitated while the other seemed to be rather excited about the frogs and salamanders that he had caught. One of the kid's had caught five frogs that were a mottled green and brown color and that had a skin appearance akin to moss, he had also caught three salamanders that were orange and black in color, the other kid didn't seem to care much about the frogs or the salamanders that his companion had caught. The other kid seemed to only want to go home, he was constantly complaining about being in the area and he was constantly picking on his companion, who took the bullying for all of five minutes before beginning to defend himself. Ulok and Olok were forced to listen in on the verbal exchanges of the two kids and then they were forced to listen in to the physical fighting that the two kids were doing.

Although they were annoyed about being so close to the fighting they were glad that they were getting a bit of experience in on how the younger generation dealt with their emotions. Miss. Eshal, their employer's oldest child and only daughter, had had a rather difficult time when she had gone through the Temperamental Phase that all early to mid-teenaged children went through. Their employer had reprimanded her several times, he had disciplined her correctly and he had talked to her on how to handle herself when she felt her temper going into that uncontrollable area on the temper gauge. They knew that their employer was a rather patient man, he had been very patient and understanding with his only daughter when she had been going through that Temperamental Phase, but would that patience be put to the test with his two, younger sons who were both experience that same phase at the same time? Male teenagers experienced a more explosive Temperamental Phase than female teenagers, parents did have to be more firm with their teenage male children than with their female teenage children.

"Ow! You idiot!" the kid who had the tough sounding voice yelled. "That was my hair!"

"Well if that one strand wasn't as long as you have it you wouldn't have had to worry about me grabbing it." the kid that had the gruff, hoarse sounding voice said back.

"Mom's going to know about us fighting," the tough sounding kid said. "look at me! My clothes are wet, I'll probably have two black eyes because of you and my knee and hip are killing me!"

"How's mom going to know about us fighting through your knee and hip hurting you?" the gruff, hoarse sounding kid asked. "You could have simply tripped and fallen on a rock."

"My clothes are ripped too."

"There are Tigers around too, I could easily say you had a Tiger-encounter."

"Mom's going to believe that all our facial bumps, nicks, scratches, black eyes and bruises and our wet and torn clothes were caused by a Tiger attack? Get real ya freak!"

"Maybe not, I'll just stick with putting the blame on you." the gruff, hoarse voiced kid said.

"Grab your fuckin' containers and let's get out of here." the tough voiced kid snapped. "I've had about enough of you for one day."

"Really? I was just getting started in paying you back."

"Paying me back?" the tough voiced kid repeated the three words that the other kid had just said. "Dude, you're insane. I can beat you up with one arm held behind my back."

"Y-... well, actually I'm just playing catch-up with you." the gruff voiced kid said. "All the wasted years of not being able to pick a fight with you because of my poor, sensitive eye. The three fights we have just had are just the beg-... hey!"

"Keep it up, Lazeer, and that sensitive eye of yours won't be seeing much of anything."

As Ulok and Olok were rushing forward towards the sound of the two kids that they had been hearing fight for the last few minutes Homsi was walking slowly through the Au am Rhein dump. So far, he had seen nothing of what his employer's nephew's employer that was on the other side of the shield had photographed. He had seen plenty of junk that he would not chance to go near and he had smelled plenty of foul odors that had nearly made his nose curl up inside his head. The area that the Claydo had been facing had three piles of junk in it, two that were rather tall while the third being small, he had found nothing in the area that had caught the Claydo's interest so he had decided to do a little walking around in the dump to see if whatever it had been that had caught the interest of his employer' nephew's employee had moved off. He was nearing the west end of the dump now, he was only a few yards away from the center of the dump and the smell that was assaulting his nostrils was almost enough to make him call it a day and go home. If he had been asked to compare the smell that was in the dump that he was in to anything in particular he would have said that it was a combination of rotting produce, mainly cabbage and onions, dirty diapers, spoiled milk and bad eggs times a hundred, it was that bad.

On occasion, during his walking around in the dump, he'd find himself rising his hand up to touch the short strands of light gray hair that had been slowly growing back after they had been assaulted by a pair of scissors seven weeks ago. He knew that touching or rubbing one's bald or near bald areas didn't make the hair grow back any faster but, still, he felt weird without his hair and he knew he looked strange without it too. When he had come home that day seven weeks ago he had been so tired that he had conked out on the couch, his wife had been at home but she had just been getting out of the shower so the twins had been out and about in the apartment unsupervised and he, of course, had no knowledge of this. If he had known about his wife's taking a quick shower and about the twins being left unsupervised in the apartment he would have stayed awake, he would have kept watch over them before his wife had come to relieve him but, sadly, he had no known and he had paid a price for that dis-knowledge. He had fallen asleep on the couch, he had still been wearing the clothes that he had put on that morning and he had still had his shoes on his feet, he had slept a short dream before finding that dream broken by feeling the sudden stab of pain ring in one of his ears.

Naturally, his first response had been to find out why that stab of pain had happened after he had felt it. He had reached his hands up to his ears, the right had had come away clean while the left one had come away with a touch of blood on it, the second he had seen that touch of blood on his hand he had glanced behind him to see if there had been something that had fallen or if some bug had happened to of decided to take a bite out of him. The first thing that he had seen was his hair lying on the shoulders of his dark blue tuxedo jacket and on the apartment's living room carpet, that had been a real shock. His hair was unique to him, he had tried growing hair on the top of his head several times in his youth but his make-up had just not allowed for that to happen. It had always grown out from his ears and it had always been a light gray color which was weird, his parents and his siblings all had hair on their heads and their hair was either black or dark brown. He had grown rather fond to the way his hair grew out from his ears, it meant less to clean on his body and despite it's growing out from his ears it stayed relatively clean. When he had seen that his hair was not where it was suppose to be he had grown concerned, he had wondered what the hell had happened for both the pain in his left ear to occur and he had wondered what had happened for the hair that grew out of both of his ears to fall out. He had gotten his answer after he had glanced down and seen that his youngest son, Gizzeppli, was crouching down behind the arm of the couch. His young son had been holding a pair of silver scissors in his small hand and he had had a right guilty look on his face.

He had yelled, he had shot up from the couch, he had ran off to the bathroom that his wife had just exited to look himself in the mirror and then a certain son of his had gotten a spanking and then a good talking to about how not to use a pair of scissors and what to not use a pair of scissors for. His wife, Abara, had let him do the disciplining, she had been to in-shock over what their young son had done. When his parents, siblings and his in-laws had found out what had happened they had really said nothing, they had been too stunned, and his co-workers had all thought that he was a new employee. The hair snipping incident had not been the only thing that Gizzeppli and Galiza had done to receive punishment for, a few days before his hair had been snipped he had walked in on the twins both drawing on the kitchen floor with magic markers and, a week before that they had dumped glue all over the carpet that was in their bedroom. They were toddlers, he understood that, but they did have to learn what was right and what was wrong. They had been disciplined for each incident and he, sadly, over the past six months, had been forking out hundreds of dollars to get the carpets replaced in the apartment and to get paint for the walls and his wife had actually scrubbed the kitchen floor five times with a heavy mixture of soap and a cleaner potion before the twins' drawings had disappeared.

"Homsi, see anything?" Eldass' voice came in through Homsi's walkie in a near whisper-like manner. Homsi snatched the walkie out of its holster that was on the left side of his brass belt buckle quickly.

"Negative, no signs of anything that that guy was interested in in this dump." he replied.

"Vile's employee moved off, he went south. Look for a set of train tracks, he's standing near a set of old train tracks."

"How far did he go from where he was ten minutes ago?" Homsi asked.

"Uhhh... twenty to thirty feet, I'd say."

As he walked forward he found himself wishing that he had dressed in something else that morning. Eldass had been smart, instead of showing up for work in a tuxedo he had showed up wearing a pair of brown shorts that barely reached down to his knees, a white t-shirt and a bag that contained several items that he would need while down on Earth. What had he showed up to work with? Well, he had a black shoulder bag that was bobbing up against his left thigh as he walked along that had a lunchbox, a first aid kit, a video camera and a regular camera, his wand and a gun in it. His work and regular day cellular phones were in their holsters on his belt as was his hand-held radio, he had a pocket knife in his pocket and he also had the hoverboard that had cost him just over a grand connected to his belt as well. While his co-worker had come to work wearing non-formal attire he had punched his work ticket in while wearing a dark gray tuxedo, he was sure that he'd be scrubbing the shoes that matched his tuxedo for a few hours after he got home not to mention he'd probably have to take his suit into a cleaners just to get the stink off of it. There were nothing but heaps of foul-smelling junk on either side of him, some were piled up high while others were small but all of them cast off the same smell that made him want to turn and then flee to a safer area. The path that he was walking down was wet, it was sticky and it had bits and pieces of paper and glass on it that he was trying to not step on.

He really wasn't paying any attention as to how far he had gone and he was not going to be climbing up any piles of stinking junk just to see if he was going in the right direction, all he knew was that he was walking in a southerly fashion. When a large mosquito buzzed near his ear he slapped his hand up to shoo it off, when a rat ran across the path he stopped just for a second before going on and when a cat's screech was heard he stopped to look around. It seemed like forever before he made the turn that brought him to a location in the dump that had a set of old train tracks running through it. There were three sets of tracks in front on him, one was rather worn down and rusty while the other two looked to still be in use. The ground in this area of the dump wasn't wet, it was dusty which he thought was worse. There were a series of sheds beyond the train tracks, some of the sheds were rather rusty and small while others had a clean look to them, the ones that looked clean were bigger than the smaller, rusty sheds. Homsi looked over to the left and saw that the Claydo was pointing and yelling at him, he heard the fellow saying for him to vacate the area at once before the law was put on him, he laughed at the fellows words then he walked over towards the train tracks. He was just reaching them when the door to one of the smaller, rustier shed's swung open, a cloud of light gray smoke drifted out from the shed for a second, Homsi heard some cackling followed by some coughing. Homsi figured that a bunch of humans had decided to go off to take advantage of one of the dump's many sheds to either do a smoke or drink some illegal booze or even do some private talking in as sheds were, after all, the most private of places to smoke or drink in or to conduct some sort of private business in. Homsi started to walk across the train tracks just as one of the sheds inhabitants walked out of the shed.

"Dude! You have one hell of a powerful set of lungs on you!" the human, who had brown hair and who was wearing a pair of jean shorts, a white muscle shirt and black shoes, said. "You practically downed two doobs on your own man!"

"Told ya not to hand me a whole one, skippy." a strong voice, deep voice that was very strong and powerful said back.

"What was the stuff you had?" the human asked. "Had a good taste to it."

"Popeye, I was told. I usually go for the mid-grade stuff."

"Expensive? Where'd you get it?"

"Amsterdam, man."

"No shit! You went to one of them Cannabis Coffee Shops?"

"They don't sell to tourists, I had to wait until someone came out of one of them shops to get a small bit that'd last me a month." Homsi stopped when the human turned in his direction. He and the human locked eyes for only a second before the human looked away.

"Man, that stuff has me hallucinating! I'm seeing Trolls!" the human laughed and then coughed after he said that, Homsi felt a trifle bit offended by being mistaken for a Troll.

"Really? Well, get ready to see Bigfoot because here he come. Rowr!"

Homsi plunged his hand into the bag that he had packed that morning after finishing his morning routine for both the video camera and the normal camera as his employer's adopted son walked out of the shed. Bile Vile, the actual son of Vile Vile but the adopted son of TazirVile Surfeit, stumbled out of the shed, he near dropped to his knees then he rushed forward towards the human that had been with him in the shed only a few moments before. He grabbed the human, who looked so small and fragile compared to him, and then he picked him up. The human struggled in Bile's arms, he swung his arms and he kicked his legs out before going limp, Homsi turned the two cameras on then he started to both gather video evidence and photograph evidence of what all happened next. Bile put the kid down then he started to walk around in circles, he joked that he was rapid and that the human better run before he came after him and the human did... for only a few feet before his legs collapsed from under him. Bile took two steps towards the human then he stopped, he stood in place for what felt like forever then he turned and headed away from both the human and Homsi. He staggered twice, he dropped to one of his knees four times and then he disappeared. Homsi found himself too paralysed to follow the youngster, he stood in place with the two cameras in his hands in shock over what he had just seen. The human stayed on his side, his chest was rising and falling so he was alive, Homsi detected a faint snoring sound coming from the human so he figured that the human had fallen asleep after he had collapsed to the ground.

Homsi wasn't very sure over what all he had just seen, the conversation that he had heard before his employer's adopted son had walked out of the shed seemed very far and distant in his brain. Bile had been staggering around, he had not been acting right, why was that? Why wasn't the youngster with his mother? Where were his brothers, were they okay or had something happened to make them separate? Why was Bile at the dump and why had the youngster been in the shed with the human? It took Homsi a full five minutes before he finally found the ability to move, he shut the two cameras off and then he checked to see if he had actually caught what he had seen. The camera footage was long, what he had seen happen with Bile took up only a minute and half of tape, he had recorded a full five minutes of footage. The photographs were good but, again, he had taken more than he should have, he deleted the ones that were not needed then he turned and started to leave the dump.

"Hey..! Hey, you! Hey..!" Homsi stopped after he had exited he shield, he turned to the side and saw that the Claydo was walking briskly towards him. Homsi kept the Claydo in his line of sight as he slid the two cameras into his bag. When the Claydo was two feet from him he said, "On order from the planet's ruler and owner, you are to hand over any camera footage of what you just saw."

"By order of my employer, who is more the father of the youngster that I just saw, I am to keep any footage that I have recently taken." Homsi said back.

"Master Vile's orders, I can take any footage that you have recently shot by force if-..."

Eldass walked out of the bushes to see his co-worker swinging his fist towards the Claydo, the Claydo yelled in shock and then in pain and then he ran forward. Homsi, as quick as grease lightning, stepped over to the side one second before the Claydo reached him then he wheeled around. The Claydo's feet went flying, he fell face-down on the soil and then he started to shout out in pain as the five strands of red energy wrapped around his body. Homsi stood in place for only a second or two, the strands of red energy that were coming out of the tips of his fingers were sending billows of white smoke up as they burned his fingernails, when he dropped his attack his fingernails had been burned down to the quicks. Lynster moaned and then he rolled over slowly, the first thing that he noticed was that his body was a burned and smoking wreck. The second thing that he noticed was that he was alone, the two Goblins that had been in the area had teleported either out of the area or off of the planet.


	18. Chapter 18

Being that he had lived in the state of Wyoming for over three hundred years he knew quite a lot about Earthquakes. The scientists, who had all their seismic machines that ran out either large or thin strips of paper that had all sorts of squiggly lines on them that signified what all was going on underneath the soil in a certain area, all claimed that there was no real way of predicting when a quake was going to happen and that there was no way in knowing when an earthquake would happen or where it would happen when there really was. The local wildlife and domestic animals were very in-tune with the planet and the way it moved, if a quake was about to happen the wildlife would be acting weary or nervous and in some parts the local wildlife would seemingly migrate to areas some miles away from where a quake was about to be felt. Dogs would either refuse to go out on walks or they would be anxious to get out of the house, cats would be going crazy to either get out of the house or to find some place to hide where they knew they would be safe and, yes, even the ground-dwelling animals would be seen rising up from their soil-homes. Thirty years ago, two days before the 7.1 quake that had originated in Rock Springs, Wyoming on August 24, 4,070, his older brother had come upon hundreds of red, wiggly, Earthworms that had crawled out from their soil-homes. Lhaklar had picked each worm up, he had put them in a container and then he had gone off to do some fishing. The day after he had found all the worms he had asked for permission to go camping near one of the rivers that was near the apartment that they had been living in, he had been wanting to go do some night fishing for a long time so it had not surprised any of them when he had been given permission to do so. He had just reeled a large catfish in on the fishing rod that he had been using when the quake had struck.

The state of Wyoming had been a moderate area for seismic activity, he and his family had experienced maybe fifty or so small to medium-strength quakes during their time living in the state, he and his family had experienced a lot more when they had lived in Canada though. Most of the quakes that he and his family had gone through when they had been living in Canada had been the smaller ones but they had experienced a few of the bigger ones. The quake of 3,765, for example, had rumbled right through the county that they had been living in at a strong 7.7, there had been a lot of injuries and a lot of property damage but there had been no deaths. Again, there had been signs that that quake was coming, the dogs and cats in their then-neighborhood had been going crazy as had the local wildlife, the squirrels had actually disappeared for all of three days before the quake had struck and the deer species that were frequently seen in the area north of their then-residence had actually stampeded clean out of their county. It had been the same in the other counties or providences in Canada where they had resided and he had expected for the same thing to happened here in Germany where, he had been told by Stefan Leinart the night before when the man had come over for a visit, the seismic activity was pretty mild. According to Mr. Leinart, the area where they had picked to reside in was in zone 1, they could experience one to three quakes every year to two years but nothing really over a 3.1. He and his family had gone to bed on the second day of the month of October peacefully, their mother had had the night shift at U-Krop-It so she had already been out of the house and, since it was a Friday, so was Lhaklar. Nothing had happened either in the house or out of it to give him and his family a fair warning as to the quake that was to happen at 2:27 a.m. in the morning, his frogs and salamanders, Hazaar's turtles and Guyunis's kitten had not given them the heads-up that something was about to happen and that went double for the other domestic pets that the humans had in their neighborhood or the local wildlife that was in their part of Germany. When the quake started rumbling through the neighborhood that he and his family had picked to reside in he had just figured that it'd register under a 2.1 on the Seismic scale. He had placed his head back on his pillow after he had felt the slight rumble, he had actually been about to fall asleep when the quake had upped its tempo.

"Ow!" Lazeer said after the stuffed Opossum that had been preserved with its legs sticking out from its body and with its tail being curved in a near question-mark, had fallen from the piece of driftwood that he had nailed above his bed nearly two months ago onto his head. Lazeer pushed himself up from his bed, he slid the fourteen pound, preserved Opossum that he had knabbed nearly eight months ago when he and his family had been living in Colorado to the side and then he tried to get up from his bed. Instead of finding himself walking away from his bed he found himself lying face-down on the Optical Illusion, imitation Indian-made rug that was beside his bed.

The next five minutes were extremely terrifying for him, he heard all of his brothers screaming and he heard Guyunis's kitten screeching in terror but what really terrified him was the fact that he wasn't able to get up off of the floor. The oak camouflage comforter from the set that he had purchased nearly two months before had wrapped around his legs, the matching sheets were all tangled up in the center of the bed and the dark green fleece blanket that he had actually had to purchase separately because the comforter set had not had a fleece blanket included in it was thrown up against the wall. The three pillows that had matching oak camouflage cases on them that had been on his bed when he had gotten into it that night were now bouncing against the distressed wooden side table that was beside his bed that had the dinosaur lamp that had a dark yellow lamp shade around its single bulb and many plastic Stegosaurs', Velociraptors', Tyrannosaurus Rex's and Triceratops' glued onto its base and the green alarm clock that had two frogs on its top that moved up and down when the alarm went off on its surface.

The floor underneath him shook violently for what seemed a very long time and then it seemed to roll back and forth. With the floor underneath him rocking, rolling and shaking and then hearing his brothers screaming in their rooms around him and then hearing the things that were in his room falling to the floor he felt like he was riding one hell of a roller coaster. The pillows that were bouncing up against his night table fell down to the floor, they were followed by a good many of the things that were on the walls of his room and some of the hunting trophies that were on the 71" royal cherry bookcase. Due to both the comforter that was tangled around his legs and his terror, he was paralyzed, he couldn't move from the spot on the floor next to his bed even if he wanted to. His terror was upped when he started to hear a popping sound that changed quickly into a siren-like sound, by the time the siren-like sounds started a flashing red light started seeping in through the red drapes that were pulled over his window. He thought that the flashing red lights were coming from a police vehicle but as soon as that thought popped into his head the flashing red lights changed to a bright purple color and by the time the flashing lights did that the siren-like sounds that he was hearing changed into a furious roar.

"_Biiiiile!_"he screamed as the room that was his rocked and rolled around him and as the flashing, purple lights came in through the drapes that were in front of his window. "Bile! Hazaar! Guyunis! Someone, help me! I'm stuck on the floor and I can't-..."

A series of loud thunderclaps prevented him from saying the rest, the window that was in his room suddenly exploded, the drapes blew in and he felt an energized breeze that was very strong. Some of the glass particles from the window blew at him, he felt them cut into his face and he yelled in pain when one of the glass particles slapped up against his left eye. He tried to get up after he felt a sudden warmth ooze out from the eye that was sensitive to sunlight, with the warmth of what he thought was blood oozing down the left side of his face he turned around and started to untangle the comforter from his legs. He had just gotten the comforter loose from his legs when the lamps and the domed light that were in his room started to flicker on and off, he watched as the three lamps that were in his room and as the domed light that was up in the ceiling flicked on and off for a few seconds and then he got up. He had just started towards his bedroom's door when, suddenly, the door ripped itself open. Bile, the second he saw his youngest brother, wasted no time in running forward to collect him after he had kicked the door to his brother's room in.

"Move, dammit!" Bile yelled when his younger brother stopped after he had grabbed and then thrown him out of his room. "If the house falls I do not want to be in it and neither do you!"

He walked forward in a daze, with the only eye that he could see out of he saw that a lot of the framed photographs that his mother had put up on the walls had fallen down to the floor. There was glass all over the red carpet, he stepped on it and he felt new blood ooze out of his body as he walked on down the second floor's hallway and then down the carpeted stairs. After he had reached the end of the stairs he felt Bile pushing him to the left, he couldn't really see anything because of it being so dark in the house but he could hear what was going on around him very well, the walls seemed to have heartbeats now and the floor was still rocking back and forth but it seemed that the quake had dropped a little in strength. Lazeer brought his hand up to the left side of his face, he wiped his face of the warmth that had flowed out of his left eye and then he turned halfway around. Due to a violent flash of orange, which was brand new in this strange quake that had decided to happen in his and his family's small residential area in south Germany, he was able to see that both of the living room's windows had burst inwards, there was glass all over the living room. The sliding glass door that was in the dining room had also burst inward so there was glass in the dining room too, Bile was wearing his night-clothes but he had a very scared look on his face. Lazeer would have normally cracked a joke at who all would be scarred for life outside after his older brother walked out of the house wearing just a white t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts that had red and white stripes on them but, with his knowing that this was not the time to crank out the jokes and with his terror being as high as it was he just couldn't muster up the courage to say much of anything. The last thing Lazeer remembered was feeling his brother's arms wrap around him, he didn't remember being picked up off of the floor or being carried out of the door, his terror over what was going on around him made him black out.

"Oh shit! Is he okay?" Hazaar asked after Bile had placed an unconscious Lazeer down on the ground near the street.

"What's all tha-k-t stuff on his face?" Guyunis asked.

Bile didn't answer the questions that his brothers were asking him, he simply ripped his t-shirt off of his back and then he slowly brought it over the left side of his youngest brother's face. He was in a half-shock at the moment, after being woke up by the quake he had found himself having to not only experience the sensation of feeling his bed bounce up towards the ceiling and then nearly tip over with him still lying on it he had also had to hear his younger brothers screaming in terror. Being that this was his first time experiencing such an earthquake and being that this was also the first time he had had to go through an earthquake on his own he had nearly been paralyzed with fear, he had sat on his bed with his hands gripping the sides of the mattress tightly for nearly a minute before he had been able to get up off of ass and then go save his brothers who had been just as terrified as he. He had reached Guyunis first, he had found his adopted brother collapsed in the hallway that his and his brothers' bedrooms were on. Guyunis had had both of his hands clasped over his right knee rather tightly, he had banged his knee pretty hard on something in his room when he had been racing to get out of the room after the quake had started. He had helped Guyunis out of the house and, luckily, Guyunis's kitten had raced out of the front door at the same time so he had not had to go searching for her, after he had gotten Guyunis out of the house he had turned and gone back in for Hazaar.

He had fought his way through the hallway that came off of the foyer that was in front of the front door and then he had struggled to get up the stairs on that second trip. He had banged the flesh that was on his left elbow right open during that struggle up the stairs to the second floor and he had cut his feet pretty badly on the glass that had been on the carpet but he had fought through them pains to get to Hazaar, who had managed to nearly get out of his room. He had found his younger brother clinging to the frame of his bedroom's door, Hazaar had been too terrified to move or speak, he had just wanted to keep his hold on the door frame. Hazaar seemed fine now but in time he would probably feel some pains in his hands and/or ribs, he had had to punch at his younger brother's hands to get them free from the door frame so his younger brother probably had two or three broken fingers and he had had to pick up and carry his brother out of the house so Hazaar probably also had some bruised, cracked or broken ribs as well.

Since Lhaklar wasn't in the house he had had one less brother to save, he had actually been carrying Hazaar down the hallway that came off of the foyer when he had heard Lazeer cut-off scream for help. He had nearly dropped Hazaar after his youngest brother's scream had been cut off, fear had wrapped around him and had started to squeeze him tightly but he had managed to keep walking forward. Hazaar had come-to after he had gotten them outside so, after his brother had started to thrash about in his arms he had put him down on the grass. He had gone back into the house one, final, time for the brother whose scream had been cut-off. The third trip down the hallway that came off of the foyer that was in front of the front door had been tricky, there had been more glass on the carpet that had cut into his bare feet, the trek up the stairs had been equally as tricky. It had looked like Lazeer had been on his way out of his room when he had got to him so that had been one less thing for him to worry about, he had been worrying all the time of fighting his way down the hallway and then up the stairs to the second floor of the house that something had fallen on his youngest brother or that the roof had fallen down in Lazeer's bedroom or something like that that had made his brother's scream become cut-off. Bile heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the blood that he was wiping off of his youngest brother's face wasn't coming out of a punctured eye, Lazeer's eye was fine but he might need a few stitches to close up the gash that was going diagonally over his left eye.

"He's fine," Bile said, he then turned and looked at the two other brothers that he had helped out of the house. He repeated what he had just said to them. "He's fine, just unconscious is all."

"What's happening-k?" Guyunis asked, although the quake had slowed up the ground was still shaking and loud flashes of orange, purple and red were lighting up the night sky violently.

"A number of things could be happening," Bile said. "one, the day that the humans can't see to want to stop talking or preaching about has finally arrived where the planet is destroyed. Two, my birth-father left the planet for a bit and then he returned or three, some other being that is just as evil as my birth-father or even more evil than my birth-father entered the planet's atmosphere in a violent fashion that literally rocked the planet to its core and back."

"The last time your father came to the planet he didn't create such a violent reaction," Hazaar pointed out. "it grew dark and then a series of earthquakes happened. There were no flashes of red, purple or orange going on in the sky and the ground didn't shake as violently as it was nearly two minutes ago. I'm willing to bet my October's allowance that some other being of equal or greater evil just came to the planet."

"W-... wha-k-t happens if someone of equal or greater evil comes here?" Guyunis asked. "Will there be a figh-k-t or-..."

"I have no idea how my father defends his conquered realms from invaders," Bile said as he turned Lazeer's head over to the side, even though Lazeer was starting to stir he didn't want him to choke on anything. "I do know that he did doodly squat when the Machine Empire invaded for the second time and, from what ma told us one day a long time ago, he didn't do much of anything when Trakeena and his younger brother tried to take over the planet. From what ma told us, he just showed up and the ones that were trying to take the planet from his control fled with their tails firmly tucked between their legs. Ma says that he waited until his possible usurpers had been defeated by the teenagers that had been the planet's then-protectors, she also says that he didn't show much interest in the planet because he couldn't get past her shields. When small pockets of humans started moving out from under the shields and started building towns and cities some distances from the shields he took an interest but, before that, he had very little interest in the planet."

"Letting-k others do his dirty work before showing-k up to dispose of the remnants," Guyunis shook his head. "maybe he's showing-k his age. Too old to defend a planet or a galaxy."

"That's what we think he did," Hazaar said, when Lazeer sat up he leaned down. "Welcome back, ya little annoyance. Have a good sleep? Dream any good dreams or did you just-..."

"Not right now, Hazaar." Bile said as he pushed Hazaar to the side. "Lazeer, you alright?"

As Lazeer was both nodding his head and reaching his hand up to feel if his eye was still in its socket or not and as Lhaklar discovered that his teleportation ability had been cancelled out by the earthquake and as Angel Irene was struggling to get out from under the gondola shelf that had fallen on her when the quake had started to increase in power that was in the U-Krop-It store that she had been working at for nearly two months, Caroline Louise Roberts and the others that had been left behind after the order had been given by Horace Smith to evacuate the White House and that were being forced to work at the White House by their new employer and their new self-proclaimed ruler, Master Vile, were going crazy with fear. George Davis, the former Executive Chef who had been responsible for planning, managing and then preparing all the menus and meals for the First Family, was running from one room to the other to help those who called out for help after something had fallen on them and had pinned them to the floor while Mrs. Roberts was simply huddled in a corner shaking in utter terror. One of the three remaining butlers, a man named William Robinson, was yelling for someone to come help him as one of the chandeliers that had fallen during the crazy quake had sliced right through his leg. From what Mrs. Roberts was able to hear, William Robinson's leg had been severed almost at the knee, she knew from his yells that his leg was spewing blood all over the place. William's cries for help were coming from the Green Room, which was one of three parlors on the first floor of the White House. The pleading cries of Henry McKim, the second of the three butlers that had also been left at the White House after the building had been evacuated in May, were coming from the State Dining Room which was the larger of the two dining rooms that were also on the first floor of the White House. Henry McKim's pleading cries were nearly inaudible but Caroline was able to make out that he had become pinned underneath the dining room's long table and some of the chairs that had been thrown due to the quake, she was also able to make out that one of his extremities was broken. The third butler, an elderly man named Erik Bloomberg, was yelling from the Cross Hall, which was a broad hallway that was also on the first floor of the White House. Erik Bloomberg was just plain scared, Caroline couldn't help but feel sorry for the man, although none of them had had it easy the past few months he had really been effected by all of the stress that was going on around them.

William Robinson's, Henry McKim's and Erik Bloomberg's cries were nearly overshadowed by an even louder yell that was coming from their self-proclaimed ruler. Master Vile was not yelling for help, he was not in pain, he was not pinned down by a chandelier or a table or some chairs and he was not yelling in fear either, he was simply yelling out orders for his monster staff. Although Lynster, the Scottish Terrier/Rat creature, was yelling in fright he seemed to be doing exactly as he had been ordered to do which was to grab his employer's sword from the room that his employer had decided to stink up in the last few days that was on the second level of the building. The pig-like monster wasn't getting any real orders to do so he was just squealing and screeching in terror, the pig-like creature had been down in the kitchen that was on the ground, or basement, floor of the White House before the quake had started, Caroline figured that he was still in that part of the building. The other men that literally jumped at every command that they were given by their employer had been given orders to either locate the planetary intruder or to bring their employer the security statistics of the two continents that he had control over or to bring him some sort of box that had some sort of important document that Caroline figured only he cared about, Caroline had no idea if they were obeying those orders or not, all she knew was that she and a bunch of her co-workers were scared to death.

Caroline Louise Roberts was in the Entrance Hall, she had decided to try to blend in with her surroundings that day as she really didn't want to be anywhere near the man who was her new employer. After experiencing him raping and then torturing her on the 22nd of August she had been doing her best to stay clear of the man. She had a headful of hair again but it would take some time before it grew back to the state that it had been before the evil man had decided to use his damn hair-pulling device on it. Her body had yet to regrow the finger and toenails that had been ripped out from her fingers and toes but her body had healed most of the burns, bruises and cuts that the evil man had put on her. She had some scarring on her breasts, arms and legs but the scars weren't really noticeable, she was glad for that and so was her husband. Her husband, Charlie Roberts, had nearly hit the roof after he had found out about how she had been tortured. He had ranted and raved about how he was going to get the son-of-a-bitch that had dared to put a finger on her and he had actually made the drive over to the White House to confront the man, she had tried to make him leave for his own safety but he had not listened. Her dear husband of near five years had gotten the shit beat out of him by her evil employer no more than ten minutes after he had walked into the White House, Master Vile had come very close to killing the man but he had backed off at the last second which she was grateful for. She had left the White House with her husband, George Davis had called and had gotten an ambulance for her husband and she had rode along with her husband to the hospital. That and having to experience being both raped and then tortured by Master Vile was enough to tell her that she had best keep her distance from the man, she had tried to get her evil employer to either fire her or relieve her of her duties after he had beat her husband up and he had simply said no. She was, sadly, working for the man virtually as his prisoner and so were George Davis, William Robinson, Henry McKim and Erik Bloomberg.

When the ground had started to shake she had reacted only by instinct, she had ran right over to the corner that she was currently huddling and shivering in and she had thrown her arms over her head to protect herself from any sort of debris that decided to fall down from the ceiling. The ceiling tile that had been above her had fallen on her, a cloud of white dust had dropped on her afterwards but she was fine, she was scared half to death and she had a fine layer of white dust on her but she was fine. The chandelier that was in the room was on the floor, there was glass all over the place and the furnishing had either been thrown from their places or they had simply been rolled over to one of their sides. Caroline was very lucky, she was on the far side of the hall from the windows, if she had decided to huddled underneath one of the two, large windows that were on either side of the Entrance Hall's door she would have received some nasty injuries after the glass windows had exploded. Caroline stood up shakily, she shook her shoulders weakly to get rid of the dust that was on her then she walked forward at the same time that George Davis ran over to her.

"Mrs. Roberts, you alright?" George Davis, a middle-aged man who had black hair that was both graying and growing thin on the crown and brown eyes, asked after he had reached Caroline.

"Fine," Caroline said. "I'm fine, you seeing what I am, George?"

George Davis didn't answer the question that his co-worker had asked him, he gently and carefully ran his hands over Caroline Roberts' body to see if there were any injuries that needed immediate tending. The last three minutes had been Hell for him, he had helped to stabilize William Robinson's severed leg and he had carefully removed the chairs and the long table that had somehow broken in three parts from Henry McKim then he had helped Henry to the Cross Hall where he had taken William Robinson and where he had calmed Erik Bloomberg down. Henry McKim's right leg had been twisted after the long table and three of the heavy chairs that had been around the long table had piled up on him, the man was in a lot of pain as was Mr. Robinson but they were grateful to be in a safe area. When he had gone to find Caroline he had heard the horrid man that was his new employer barking out the instruction for "the humans" to be both rounded up and then put in one of the first floor's hallways, the monster that looked part Scottish Terrier and part rat had happened on him carrying Henry McKim to the Cross Hall, that same monster had tried to stop him from leaving the area but he had managed to slip by the fellow. The monster, a man named Lynster, was very shaken up so he wasn't really complying with his employer's orders as efficiently as he usually did, he had swiped his hand at him but the swipe had been pretty weak and the monster had not pursued him after he had gotten by.

Like Mrs. Roberts and Mr. Bloomberg, he had not had it easy the past five months. Although he still had his job and although he was still being paid for that job his paycheck had been severely downsized. Normally, he'd be bringing home around a grand a week, he was lucky to now bring home $100 a month. His wife was stressed out, some of their bills had had to be let go because of the sudden drop in his pay and, thanks to his new employer, his benefits had also been dropped. The horrid man named Master Vile had decided that he was going to break every working man and woman by dropping their pays and benefits, many people were sick and many of them sick people couldn't afford to pay for a doctor because all of the money that was in their paychecks were going towards the essentials like the bills, food for the cabinets and maybe a small can or two of energy-fuel for their cars, there was very little left over for a hospital or doctor's office visit. His wife had gotten sick just two weeks ago, she had had to go to the hospital for a stomach issue, if he had had his medical benefits he would have been able to take care of the medical bill with no problem. His wife's medical bill had cost him over $400, he had had to let their cable and electricity go just to pay off the hospital bill.

He had tried to remain cool about all the changes but, one and a half weeks ago, he had confronted the man who had crowned himself as North and South American's ruler about his actions towards the people that he had decided to rule over. He had really let the man have it, he had let all of his feelings about the matter of the benefits being taken away and the paychecks being severely downsized and about how the man was treating every man, woman and child and then he had shut up. His employer had listened but most of what he had said to the man had gone through one of his ears and then out of the other, the man had nearly broken his jaw with one, well-placed punch and then the man had said for him to get the bleep out of his sight. In the past five months he had received more than one undeserved punishment after another, Master Vile had swung his fists at him, he had gotten kicked several times and his new employer had also used his electric or energy or whatever the hell they were powers on him three times just to make him feel belittled. He no longer did anything at work, he just showed up and then he simply stood or sat around, his new employer's monster staff had reported him on that several occasions and he had gotten in trouble for it. His job, his profession, was being a chef. The evil man who had taken over the Americas had his own chef working in the building so he, technically, was out of a job. The pig-like monstrosity of a chef refused to let him so much as touch a fork much less cook a meal, he had told that to his new employer and his new employer had simply shrugged his shoulders, he had not given a damn and he still didn't give a damn.

Caroline Louise Roberts, the woman who had been the Secretary of the Press up to Master Vile's taking over of the American continents, looked to be in good shape which surprised George. There was glass all over the foyer that he had found her in, the windows had exploded inwards as had all of the mirrors that were in the room and the chandelier had dropped. Mrs. Roberts had a fine layer of white dust on her head and shoulders, he guessed that that was from the ceiling, she did have a cut on the top of her head that was bleeding but she didn't seem to know about it. George decided to not tell her about the cut, he didn't want to scare her or cause her to injure herself anymore than she already was. The gilded beech French Empire pier table that had been made by cabinetmaker Pierre-Antoine Bellange was lacking one of its legs, it was on its side nearly in the center of the room. The ormolu French Empire mantel clock that had been on the French Empire table had fallen to the floor, George had no idea if that fine piece of work was okay or not. The armchairs had been hurled from their respective places on the north part of the room, they were near the Grand Staircase now. All of the potted plants were out of their pots, there was dirt all over the northern portion of the foyer, the Steinway grand piano was in surprisingly good condition which George thought was good because that piece of furniture was rather ancient and important to the room. The red drapes that had gold bands were drifting in and then out of the now glass-less windows, a chilly breeze that had energized characteristics was now blowing in through the two windows that were right in front of him. George shivered slightly then he turned to look at Caroline, a small line of blood had started to fall from the cut on her head, George wiped the blood away with the sleeve of his shirt quickly.

"Come on," George said, he gently took Caroline by the arm and then he started to lead her out of the room. "William and Henry are in the Cross Hall, we'll join them there."

"Did you see it?" Caroline asked, she stopped and then she turned back towards the two windows that were now behind her.

"See what?" George asked.

"It's snowing outside," Caroline said. "it wasn't snowing earlier, before the quake happened. It is now."

George stopped and then he looked back, he didn't see it at first because of the curtains and then, after the curtains had been blown over to the side he saw that it was, indeed, snowing outside. It wasn't a blizzard-like snow and it wasn't a mild type of snow either, the snow was falling at a normal pace. George thought that that was weird, like Caroline had said it had not been snowing earlier before the quake had happened. It was much too warm for snow to be falling, the temperature that morning had risen to just over forty-five degrees, if there had been any precipitation up in the clouds it would have fallen as plain rain, not as snow. Did it snow after such a large and explosive earthquake happened? Could the quake of woke one of the planet's major volcanoes up, could the snow not be snow but ash? Could there be more troubles on the horizon for him and his co-workers with whatever was going on with the planet that they had been born and raised on? George shrugged his shoulders, he didn't have the answer to any of them questions, all he knew was that the building had an even more chilly feeling to it that he didn't like. George took Caroline's arm again and then he started to take her out of the room that he had found her in.

"How many were in the building?" Rourke Ibmhun asked. "Besides us, what was the total in the building?"

"Eleven total," Nygiti Meltin, a huge goat-like being that had brown fur, blue eyes and straight, and sharp-looking, yellow horns sticking out from the top of his head, said. "only nine accounted for."

"Which ones are missing?" Rourke asked. "I see only two of the five humans that our employer graciously spared in this hallway, where's the other two?"

"Right there," Galong Exadhoo, a green-scaled lizard-man that had bright blue crests above his red eyes that had tiny, black pupils in their centers and who had yellow whiskers hanging down from under his nostrils and quite a bit of muscle on his arms, said. He pointed over at Caroline and George who had just walked into the Cross Hall.

"Ahh, good. All accounted for, no rebellions or attempts to leave the building." Rourke said, he took in Caroline and George's physical state quickly then he made a sound akin to a laugh and a sigh. "Of the five humans in the building only two have come out from the Planetary Shake unharmed. Shame, these humans do seem to be right fragile beings."

"Should we notify Master Vile on the human injuries?" Galong asked, when Caroline and George got close enough he lunged for them. He grabbed Caroline and then he tossed her over to where Henry McKim, William Robinson and Erik Bloomberg were seated. George gave the lizard-man a slight fight, the two swung fists for a few seconds then George found himself lying face down on the floor. Galong kicked the man that he had just body slammed over to where the other humans were then he turned to Rourke. "Not really any of the five are worth keeping in the building, they aren't needed. The woman is too used up, one of the men is elderly and slow while the other men are either too mouthy or disobedient."

"That is-..." Rourke started to say before a low voice spoke over his.

"-...my decision, not any of yours."

Caroline and George crawled over to Henry McKim, William Robinson and Erik Bloomberg, they didn't so much position themselves in front of the three men to protect them as much as they simply just wanted the three men to be close to them as they were both suddenly stricken with terror. Caroline felt a warm liquid roll down the right side of her face, she wiped her hand across the side of her face, George lightly slapped her hand down when she held it up but his slap came a second too late. Caroline looked at the blood that was on her hand and then she looked up at the man who was walking towards her and her group. Master Vile had a breast-plate on that, except for a few small circular places which were aqua colored, was dull gold in color. There was a gold chain mail hanging down from the plate, a thin gold chain hung down from it along with a white tassel that was tied off on the end with a red string. Beside the white tassel hung a tassel that was a fiery red color, Caroline had heard stories about that specific tassel once. Some said that that tassel was made of actual hair from a person's head and not just any head at that, the stories that were told in the books claimed that the man's own mother had made a series of tassels of the hair that had once been on Angel Irene's head. Caroline, the second her eyes had seen that tassel, believed the stories that had circulated both by word of mouth and from the material put in the books on the planet's history. She knew the stories that she had read about in the history books were real because the tassel wasn't only fiery red but it was glowing, it cast a bright red glow on the wall across from Master Vile. Master Vile walked over and then stopped directly in front of her, Henry McKim, William Robinson, Erik Bloomberg and George Davis, he gave them a glance and then he gave his full attention to Rourke, Nygiti, Galong and Lynster.

"Where's the pig?" Master Vile said loudly.

"Here, sir." Glog Esftu, a black warthog-like creature that had dark brown tufts of hair on his head and chin, long tusks and sharp teeth in a medium length snout, said. Glog was semi-hiding behind one of the white pillars that was in the Cross Hall.

"Sir, all security is fine in all areas of your governing." Rourke said.

"Your troops have been notified of the situation, they are ready to go to battle should this invader decide to become hostile." Nygiti said. "Professor Longnose is awaiting your orders."

"Where did he or she land?" Master Vile asked. "Did any of you nincompoops get a reading on the location of where this invader landed his or her ship?"

"Sir, sadly no readings came back on where any trespassing ships landed on the planet." Galong said.

"We do know that the Planetary quake was strongest over on the other side of the planet, sir." Rourke said.

"Where?" Master Vile demanded to know. "Where was the quake's strongest point?"

"Germany, sir. Rastatt and the areas around Rastatt encountered the strongest point of the Planetary quake." Rourke answered quickly.

"Which of these humans were injured?" Master Vile looked down at Caroline, Henry, George, Erik and William, he scowled at all of them then he glanced away from them. "The woman, I see, has a head-wound that isn't very serious. What of the men?"

"Sir, the elderly man is unharmed as is the one that refuses to work." Nygiti said. "The dark human with the kinky hair has a severely twisted right leg and the tall male with the brown hair has a near severed left leg."

"Lynster, remove the injured humans from this building. Drop them off at a hospital or some other place away from the building where I won't be bothered by their disgusting cries and moans." Master Vile snorted. "The others are to remain here. Galong, lock the woman and the two uninjured men in a room upstairs."

"Yessir," Lynster and Galong both said.

The calmness and control that was in the room slipped away quickly after Lynster tried to teleport William Robinson and Henry McKim out of the building. Caroline and George both looked back to see the Scottish Terrier/Rat creature shrink back in fear and then shriek in horror after he had noticed that his ability to teleport had been blocked. Galong walked over and tried to teleport William and Henry, he did the same thing as Lynster when he discovered that he wasn't able to use his teleportation ability either. Lynster shrieked that the invader had cancelled his powers while Galong grabbed and then tried again and again to teleport William Robinson out of the building, when Galong couldn't do so he gave William a shove then he walked off in anger. Glog tried to teleport the two men, so did Nygiti and Rourke, when they saw that even their teleportation abilities had been jammed then also freaked. Master Vile stood in place, he looked at the members of his staff that were either walking around the humans or shrieking in terror for a few seconds then he reached his hand down to his belt line. Caroline's eyes widened when she saw that he was going for the hilt of a sword, she screamed in terror and then she jumped on top of William Robinson. George Davis, when he saw that his evil employer was pulling a sword out of a silver sheath, yelled in shock. He dive-bombed on top of Henry McKim quickly, Erik Bloomberg started to shiver and shake in fear then he jumped between Caroline and William and George and Henry.

"_Enough!_" Master Vile yelled, he clashed his sword up against one of the pillars once. The people that were in the hallway, both monster and human, all jumped and then went silent. Caroline, George and Erik looked up fearfully at Master Vile, who was now glaring down at them. "This is not the time for any of you to be cracking, toughen up now!"

"Most High and Mighty Vile, why is it that none of us can teleport the humans that are injured out of the building?" Rourke asked in a slightly shaky voice.

"_The intruder!_"Galong exclaimed angrily. "The intruder came, he robbed every one of us of all of our powers and-..."

"We'll be powerless for up to fifteen minutes!" Glog squealed, he hopped up and down then he started to walk around in circles. "Fifteen minutes! So much can happen in fifteen minutes! We can be hu-..."

"_Silence!_"Master Vile's yell was so loud that it echoed throughout the building. He stood still for a few seconds then he turned and started to walk away. He stopped after he had gone five feet then he turned back around. "You all disgust me! You are all worse than the damn humans who know no better than to be afraid in this situation! It is only the ability to teleport that has been blocked due to this unknown intruder that has decided to trespass on my planet. Due to this unknown intruder's violent entrance to this planet all matter of communication by phone, radio and all television, radio and remote signals have also been blocked for a full thirty minutes. No power abilities have been affected by this unknown intruder, pull your balls out from your asses and act like men."

Caroline slid off of William at the same time that George got off of Henry, Erik looked up from the floor then he ducked back down again. Master Vile's chest was heaving up and down, his face bore every detail of his rage and the sword that he had in his hand glistened rather brightly despite the fact that there were no lights on in the building. Caroline squinted her eyes slightly to get a better look at the weapon that her evil employer had in his hand, when she couldn't see much of the sword's details she crawled forward twice. George grabbed her by her leg when he saw her crawling away, he pulled her back towards the group quickly then he threw his arm around her waist to keep her in the spot that he had pulled her back to. Those two crawls had managed to help Caroline quite a lot in seeing Master Vile's sword, she had seen that the blade was thick and sharp and she had also seen that the blade had some sort of dust on it that shone even when there were no lights on. The thick blade, she had noticed, was curved like a snake and the pommel ended in a golden snake's head. She had noticed at the last second that there were rubies in the eyes of the snake-headed pommel of her employer's sword, she couldn't be sure but she thought she had seen the shine of pearl on the snake-pommel's fangs.

Lynster, Galong and Rourke all calmed down slowly while it took a while for Glog and Nygiti to get control of themselves. Master Vile stood in place for a while then he moved off, he left the hallway for five minutes then he returned with a hand-held device that looked much too small in his large hand. He fiddled with the device for a short while then, after the device had given off two beeps and then a whirring sound he nodded his head. He threw the device over to Lynster, who caught it clumsily, and then he walked off again. George stood up, he took two steps towards Lynster then he stopped, he craned his neck up as far as it would go to see what the device that his evil employer had used looked like then, after he had gotten a brief glimpse of the thing he went back to his co-workers. Master Vile had said that all television, radio and remote signals had been blocked for about thirty minutes, the device that the man had been seen using looked like some sort of a satellite statistics reader. He had been able to see two of the satellites that were orbiting the planet and he had seen some words on the left side of the device's screen before he had decided to head back to his group. Master Vile returned to their part of the hallway two minutes later, where he had gone none of them had a clue, he looked a bit anxious which confused everyone. Caroline stood up beside George, she brushed her hands down her purple dress then she gave her employer a steely look.

"You have any idea why the weather changed so suddenly outside?" Caroline asked Master Vile, she felt a tinge of fear sweep over her when Master Vile turned his head towards her slowly. "I-it was snowing outside a few minutes ago and it looks like it is still snowing, why is that?"

"Change in weather due to a break in the ozone layers, happened after the intruder entered the planet." Master Vile answered with a snarl. "Whenever one enters or leaves a planet it disrupts a portion of the ozone layers. When one enters or leaves a planet at normal or slow speed the ozone layers are barely affected but if one leaves or enters a planet at a speed that is over twenty-five thousand miles per hour the ozone layers will be disrupted which can cause all matter of weather phenomena to happen on the planet."

"Is that snow or ash falling from the sky?" George asked. "Snow is normally white, whatever is falling from the sky is dark gray. There's practically a blanket of dark gray on the South Lawn."

"It's not ash," Master Vile said. "it's a mixture of particles from the ozone layers that were destroyed by the intruder's entrance to the planet and whatever moisture that was in the atmosphere."

"Is it poisonous?" George asked.

"It'll make the air heavier for a short while," Master Vile said, he began to walk off again then he stopped and turned around. "If you humans had been given the proper teachings of how a planet ticks you'd know that when an ozone layer is destroyed all that happens is the air grows heavier... thicker than usual and the weather will be changed drastically for a few weeks, the snow that you see falling from the sky will stop in an hour or two. You may cough and sneeze for all of an hour but you won't be that badly effected by the ozone particles. The hole that the intruder made in the ozone layers will repair itself in a few weeks time, not in ten or twenty years like you humans have been told by your peanut-brained scientists... there's more than one layer of ozone to a planet, your scientists are wrong in saying that it's only one ozone layer aiding protection to a planet. Each major layer of a planet's atmosphere has an ozone layer within it, they all act as one to aid protection against any and all space manner that could be harmful to the living organisms that move around on the planet."

Although he was anxious over the lengthy wait for all communications and teleportation abilities to return he was marvelously impressed by how the humans were conducting themselves. He had half-expected for the three humans that were not injured to group up and then try to overthrow or harm him, it usually took a while before the people that were on a planet that he had conquered to accept that he was not going anywhere and that his rule over them and their planet was not going to stop, he had gotten some steely looks but there had been no rebellions or riots which was good. His staff had nearly cracked, he was surprised by that because they all knew what happened after some intruder came to one of his planet's with intentions of trying to oust him from power, they had all been taught in their primary educations about what all happened when one of evil entered a planet and, except for Glog, they all had experienced occurrences like this once or twice in their lives. He wasn't very concerned over any rebellions sparking up because of this unknown intruder's coming to his conquered planet, he could take care of any rebellion that happened on the planet quickly, what he was concerned about was who had come to his world.

Whoever the being was, he knew two things about him or her right off. One, the being had to be crazy for entering his conquered planet in such a fashion. A ship, or a cluster of ships, could well be badly damaged by entering a planet above twenty-five thousand miles per hour, a conqueror could really cause his conquering campaign to go down the toilet by trying the scare-speed tactic not the mention a conqueror was also putting his and anyone else's lives that were in the ship with him or her in danger. A ship, any ship, could last a one hundred and fifty mile an hour thrust but not for long and it was highly recommended that no ship be at that speed when entering a planet, a ship could well explode from the pressure of both the speed that it was being forced to fly in and by the planet's atmospheric layers that were trying to keep said ship from entering the planet. The other thing that he knew about the intruder that had entered his conquered planet was that he or she may be rather powerful. A planet will react to evil energies, the crust layers will shake or specific storms may happen that are more powerful than the normal storms that happened on the planet. Communications going out was normal, it was normal for any and all communications to go down for a few minutes, the information that was going up into the satellites had just been scrambled, the machines that sent the information a satellite needed to know would already be working to get the lines cleared. For such a furious Planetary quake to happen one of either his level of evil or of greater evil had to of come to a planet, he wasn't very worried over being beaten by any other being and he wasn't very concerned over his planet being taken from him though. All the other intruders to the planet that he was on had made one fatal error in thinking that he was old and slowing up, he had taught each of them a lesson by not only showing up to dispose of them but by also letting them be beat by someone that was not evil. Having someone that was not evil defeat you was bad, it destroyed one's ego pretty badly, but having the ruler of the world that you had just tried to conquer show up was like a cherry added to a nice slice of cake. Some of the defeated attempted usurpers had acted nervous when he had showed up, they had left his planet without his having to fight them. There had been two or three that he had fought, they were no longer in existence because he had taken them off of the life-grid. If this new intruder had intentions of fighting him he wouldn't back off in terror, he'd stand tall and then he'd hand out a good case of ass kicking and if this intruder brought in his or her troops he would make sure that his own troops would be ready to intercept them. This was his planet, he wasn't going to let it slip out from his grasp without a good, solid, fight.

"_Oh shit, Willy! George!_" Caroline exclaimed, she dropped down to her knees beside William Robinson. "George, give him your shirt or something! He's-..."

"Attempt teleporting the injured humans out now." Master Vile said, he could see the state of the tall human male who had brown hair and eyes very well. There was a pool of blood nearly all around the human, the man looked very pale and weak.

Unlike the first try, where William Robinson and Henry McKim went no where after the monsters had tried to teleport them to a hospice where they would get the medical treatment that they needed for their injuries, after Lynster placed his hand on William Robinson's shoulder he disappeared from the place on the floor that he had been semi-lying on. Galong teleported Henry McKim out of the building a second later then he stepped back, he had a sick smile on his face that said he was happy to have the ability that he had been lacking a few minutes before back. Caroline and George stood in place for a short while in silence, they looked at Master Vile and then they turned. They went to Erik Bloomberg, who had calmed down considerably well after seeing his evil employer reaching for his sword, although they helped the man to his feet they all found themselves falling back to the floor. There was a cry that sounded foreboding, it was loud, low and it had an aggressive tone to it that echoed all throughout the area for miles, soon after the cry had been heard there was a loud explosion. Master Vile turned around to see bits and pieces of concrete, tile, vinyl and foam flying towards him, he got out of the way of the debris quickly then, when the debris had passed him by he walked back to where he had been standing before. Caroline looked towards the Blue Room, the third of the parlor rooms that were on the state floor of the White House, she saw that the entire front portion of the room was missing. There were wires and pipes sticking out all over the place, the furniture that had been in the room was all gone now, there was stuffing and foam and string and glass all over the floor. Caroline was about to ask what had happened for the Blue Room to explode in the fashion that it had when, suddenly, a bunch of creatures that looked short in stature ran into the room.

George reacted quickly after the creatures that looked, to him, like Garden Gnomes started pooling into the room that had once been the Blue Room. He grabbed Caroline by the back of her dress and then he grabbed Erik, he turned and then he started to run. There was a tearing sound, both the back and the front of Caroline's dress ripped clean off of her body but she didn't seem to notice or care about it, she ran in sync with George and Erik for a few feet then she ducked into one of the rooms that came off of the Cross Hall. Only when she was out of harms way did she notice that her top half was exposed, her pink bra was the only thing that was keeping her breasts from being seen. She crossed her arms over her chest and then she peeked out from behind the open door of the room that she had ducked into, George and Erik had gone a few feet more down the hallway before deciding to do the same as she had in ducking into one of the rooms that they thought would keep them safe from any of the creatures that had invaded the White House. They, like she, were peeking out from the room that they were in. What they saw was, to them, both entertaining and terrifying, their evil employer and his monster staff had forgotten all about them, they were all fighting the creatures that had come in through the now-destroyed Blue Room.

By the way things were looking, whoever had come to their planet had decided to send their troops to the capital. Master Vile and his monster staff were sending a barrage of streaked lights into the now-destroyed Blue Room, a barrage of streaked lights came out soon after along with some sort of weapon that blew out smoke from one end. One of the smoking weapons struck Master Vile on the hip, he kicked it back into the room from where it had come and then he cast his hands out. Caroline saw five beams of light shoot out from the ends of her evil employer's fingers, he must have struck one or two of the creatures that were in the Blue Room because she heard someone yelling in pain afterwards. Nygiti shot a yellow ray of light into the Blue Room that, interestingly, was returned to him. Caroline saw Nygiti flying back into the Entrance Hall, Rourke and Galong followed soon after. Glog sent a multi-strand of red, purple and white lights into the Blue Room, there were three yells and then a stream of black shot out from the room, the pig-like chef did a series of back flips before he crashed back to the floor. Lynster shot five strands of blue and then he used a brown stick to shoot some red and purple lights that had a crackle to them, he was beat back a second later by a barrage of white lights that sent him sailing up towards the ceiling. Caroline, George and Erik turned their attention onto Master Vile afterwards, he was the only one standing and it looked like he had plenty more to give out to whoever it was that was in the Blue Room. Caroline, George and Erik saw their evil employer shoot out five strands of pink lights from his fists, those were followed by some red and then some black colored beams. Just as Master Vile was casting out a blue beam from the palm of his hand he was struck three times by a white fluid that slapped up against his shoulders, stomach and chest. Master Vile stumbled back two steps then he looked down, there was a series of three explosions on him and then he was flung across the hall, Caroline had no idea what had caused the latter thing to happen because nothing had come out from the Blue Room after she had seen the white fluid flying towards her evil employer. George and Erik winced when their evil employer struck one of the pillars that were in the hallway, he near split the pillar in half when he struck it.

"How nice, we have no greeting upon arrival." somebody who had a voice that sounded gravelly said from the Blue Room.

"You have no right in being here!" Master Vile yelled, George and Erik ran over to the room that Caroline was in, they grabbed Caroline and then they ran with her to the far back of the room. "Leave my planet at once! You have already had one strike against you with-..."

"What's going on?" Caroline asked after she had been pushed under a desk. Erik slid in beside her while George crouched down in front of them.

"Ssshhh, listen and we may find out what's going on." George said.

Of the known conquerors in the universe there were only three that had employed Goblins in their staff, his uncle was one of the three while the other two were Honnohai Axisuuk and Fitzuma Kazablum. When he had seen the Goblins running into the building that he had decided to reside in for a short while he had figured that the lesser of the three known Goblin employers, Fitzuma Kazablum, had decided to try to increase his territory and make his name further known. Fitzuma had only one lone galaxy and three planets in another galaxy to his name, the lone galaxy that he had in his possession he had fought for while the three planets he had inherited after his father had passed away. Honnohai Axisuuk, though a decent conqueror with four galaxies and two dozen single planets under his control, had retired long ago from the conquering game so he knew that the Goblins that had come running into the building were not under his command. He and his staff had fought the Goblins, he had injured five while some of his staff had injured two more, the injured Goblins had been replaced by others and those fresh-comers had turned the mini-battle to the enemies favor. Most of the Goblins that had come into the building had been wearing green army uniforms but, the five Goblins that he had injured had been replaced by Goblins that wore tuxedos, he had been about to send a major attack at a Goblin that was wearing a light blue tuxedo when the acid had been thrown at him. He had gotten the answer to his question of who had come to his planet and who it was that commanded the Goblins that had run into the building right after the acid had exploded after it had struck him.

"You have no right or permission to be here, leave and leave now!" Master Vile yelled at his uncle, who was standing just inside of the room that the Goblins had rushed into. His uncle merely stood in place, he moved not an inch which infuriated him. He stood up and then he threw his arms back, he had no more done so before he found himself rising up, off of the floor and then flying into the room that the humans called the Entrance Hall.

"I need no permission of yours to be here, Nephew." TazirVile said.

"I can very well toss you off of Moas and seize-..."

Lynster struggled to his feet and then he turned to go to his employer, who was being flung from one side of the Entrance Hall to the other by an invisible force. TazirVile Surfeit, the man who he knew was his employer's uncle, was standing inside the room that the humans called the Blue Room, he had his arms at his sides but he was moving his head slightly from side to side. The Goblins that were behind TazirVile Surfeit were just standing in place, they were watching in mixed awe at what their employer and commander was doing to the conqueror of the planet that they had entered illegally. Master Vile was flung a total of four times around the Entrance Hall before he was released from whatever power his uncle was using, Lynster took two steps towards him and then he stopped cold in his tracks. The two Goblins that were directly behind his employer's uncle were none other than the ones that he had seen a week ago, the one that was wearing a light blue tuxedo he had seen come out of the bushes near the Au am Rhein dump that he had seen Bile in, the one that was wearing a brown tuxedo was the Goblin that had attacked him after he had gone to retrieve the two cameras that he had seen the fellow slip into the bag that he had been carrying on him at the time. Lynster backed into the room that his employer was in, he turned and went to his employer quickly and that was when his employer's uncle walked into the hallway that the humans called the Cross Hall. TazirVile Surfeit paused in the hallway, he glanced to the left and then to the right and then he stepped forward into the Entrance Hall, Lynster looked back in time to see that four others that looked to be of the Zetakin race and one young-looking female that looked like she had some Zetakin in her genetic make-up had walked into the Blue Room.

"Sir, the two men that I saw in Germany a week ago are here." Lynster said after he had dropped to his employer's side.

"Search the building, I want any and all two-legged beings brought to this room at once." TazirVile Surfeit barked at the Goblins that were being him after he had walked into the Entrance Hall, all but six of the Goblins ran off to begin searching the building.

"The one with the white hair and the one that has short, gray hair sticking out of his ears, those are the-..."

Master Vile pushed Lynster to the side harshly then he stood up at the same time that he heard two yells and a scream, the two yells and the scream were followed by the sounds of a struggle and then Caroline Louise Roberts, George Davis and Erik Bloomberg were thrown into the Entrance Hall. Glog Esftu was thrown into the room next, he got to his feet quickly then he ran over to where Nygiti, Galong and Rourke were standing. A line of Goblins formed behind TazirVile Surfeit, most of the line consisted of military uniform wearing Goblins but there were three or four Goblins that were wearing either blue or black tuxedos in the mix as well. Caroline, George and Erik huddled together near the Grand Staircase, they were too scared to move much less speak. TazirVile looked at the woman that was in the group for only a few seconds, he took note of her eye color and then he looked away. Lynster glared at the Goblin that had attacked him as he got up from the floor, both of the Goblins that he had seen a week ago were standing five feet on either side of their employer. The four Zetakin's and the young-looking female who looked to have some form of Zetakin in her genetic make-up were standing between the line of Goblins and four of the six Goblins that had remained at TazirVile Surfeit's side. Lynster was about to call the Goblin who had attacked him out when one of the Goblins that was wearing a dark green military uniform that had three medals on its left breast pocket walked through the Goblins that had formed a line between the Cross Hall and the Entrance Hall. The Goblin walked right up to TazirVile Surfeit, he said that the building was all clear and then he turned and went back to the line.

"For such a large building that looks to be used for administrative purposes you sure have staffed it so lowly and you have sure let it go to shit, Nephew." TazirVile said, there was a pause, no one said a thing for a few seconds. When the silence had gone on for a full ten seconds TazirVile clapped his hands together, once and very loudly. "Now then, shall we get started in getting re-acquainted with one another? I do feel that we two have not seen nor spoken to one another in so long, we must do a catch-up with one another."

"The only thing you'll be catching is a one-way ticket out of here!" Master Vile roared.

He threw his arms back and then he heaved them forward, a multi-colored strand of green and black energy flew out from the index and middle fingers that were pointed out, he had curled his other fingers up into his palm. His uncle swung his arm, he caught his attack and then he sent it back. Master Vile jumped back and then he ran to the side, he threw out a sonic ring and then a ring of black energy, after those two attacks he sent out a pink energy swirl. His uncle caught two of the attacks, he absorbed them and then he sent out a black acid that splashed up again his nephew's side and leg, he had just flung a glob of red acid out at his nephew when he was struck by the pink energy swirl which made him yell and then take three steps back. Lynster decided to attack the Goblin that had attacked him the week before, he sent out a white energy strand and then an energy ball of the same color. The Goblin was struck on the side by the energy strand, the white energy strand made him yell out in pain and then he turned and did something that Lynster was not expecting. The Goblin held his right hand out, he grabbed the white energy ball that had been about to strike him and then he looked to be absorbing it into his hand. Lynster watched in mixed awe as the white energy ball changed from white to yellow and then to a mixed yellow and white, the Goblin that held the energy ball had a glaring look on his face but he wasn't scowling or making any other facial expression. Lynster was about to send out another energy ball when the Goblin changed the look on his face, his eyebrows pulled down as did his eyelids, his lower lip pulled down in a scowl and then, with a furious grunt, he shoved his right hand forward. Lynster tried to get out of the way but his attempt was far too late, the energy ball exploded after it struck him in the abdomen. Lynster flew back a few feet at the same time that his employer was grabbed by an invisible force and then thrown towards the Grand Staircase. Caroline, George and Erik raced to get out of the way quickly, the two men ran to the left while Caroline tripped and fell to the floor.

"Lucky human on that one," TazirVile said to Caroline after he had used his telekinetic powers to end the fight. Caroline had flattened herself onto the floor after she had tripped and by her doing that she had saved herself from being knocked out. After TazirVile had spoken to Caroline he turned his attention to Lynster, who was slowly getting up on his feet. "You, my fine man, should know better than to attack a Goblin... especially one who has not had his breakfast this morning."

"You will all be subjected for imprisonment and the seizing of all properties and monetary items that you have in any banks in the M-51 Galaxy if you do not leave my planet and now!" Master Vile yelled.

"Under oath, we are protected by our commander and employer." the Goblins all said in sync with one another.

"You and your threats neither worry nor scare any of us," TazirVile said, he then locked his eyes with his nephew's. "we are here for a reason and that, my dear nephew, is to give you a lesson that you will not forget anytime soon."

"A lesson? How about I teach you trespassers a thing or two in how to behave towards your ruler?"

Master Vile threw a pink energy sphere at his uncle and then he threw four more at the Goblins and then two more towards Ashaklar and the men that he knew were Ashaklar's husband and sons. He sent a red energy sphere at the youngster who he knew was his uncle's only daughter last, he had decided to be a bit more lenient towards her since he knew that she was rather young. The Goblins worked together in deflecting the spheres that were thrown in their direction while one of the pink spheres struck Amadh, the second oldest of Ashaklar's sons. Ashaklar, Cheshire and their oldest son deflected the other spheres that were thrown at them while TazirVile deflected the spheres that were thrown at him and his daughter. Before Master Vile could cast out any more attacks he found himself unable to move, he struggled to get free from the invisible force that had, yet again, grabbed him and he found out very quickly that his struggling was in vain. His uncle had used his telekinetic powers on him again. Master Vile felt the odd sensation of feeling himself being picked up and then hurled up, towards the ceiling. He found himself hating this power, it gave him the feeling of not being in control of his body, he couldn't move his arms or legs and he couldn't use his powers either. TazirVile used his telekinetic power to slam his nephew up against the wall twice, when Master Vile began to cough he released him.

"I can very well break your neck and not be thrown in jail for it, Nephew!" TazirVile said angrily. "Harming me is one thing, harming the innocent child of a ruler is quite another."

"You are no ruler here! You are nothing more than-..."

"I am a ruler! By conquest of the Vaisha, Andromeda and the Bula Galaxies I have earned the title of conqueror and ruler and you best respect that!" TazirVile exclaimed.

"In this galaxy and in-..."

"_In any galaxy you oaf!_" TazirVile yelled, Caroline watched as the man ran his hand down the front of his black shirt that had a single row of silver buttons that went diagonally from the left shoulder to the center of the bottom of the shirt once. The man calmed down considerably after doing that action. "Must I remind you of who the child of whom you just tried to attack is or of how I turned the planets within the Andromeda Galaxy upside down in looking for her after I found her missing one day?"

"I know wh-..."

"Mr. Modulavich! Speak your brain's knowledge of who my nephew just tried to attack and what happened after I found her missing one day when she was a small tot."

Although she was now sandwiched in-between the four beings that looked like Grey Aliens, Caroline could see the girl very well. The girl, whose name was EshalVile Eskara Surfeit, stood just five foot, four inches tall. She had light blue skin and very feminine, cat-like eyes that were a pretty green color, there were black pupils in the centers of each of the girl's eyes. When EshalVile Surfeit moved her hand slightly Caroline was able to see that she had suction-cups on the tips of each of her fingers. The girl had a heart-shaped mouth, a small nose and high cheeks bones set in a pretty face. The girl's hair was grown out long, it ran all the way down her back and was a pretty light blue color except for the bangs which were purple. The girl was wearing a royal blue dress that had a pleated top. Her dress fit her slightly loosely, the top half of the dress was closed, the girl's perky breasts could barely be seen because of the looseness of the dress. EshalVile Surfeit had a pair of glittery, royal blue flat shoes on her feet, she wore no make-up on her face but she did have a royal multi-blue rhinestone necklace hanging down from around her neck. According to the Goblin, Miss. EshalVile Eskara Surfeit was two thousand, five hundred and two years of age.

The only daughter of TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, the man who had come to the planet and who had been assaulting Master Vile for the past ten minutes, had been discovered as missing one day when she had been three hundred and two years of age. Her father had literally torn the Andromeda Galaxy, a galaxy that Caroline did not know about, apart in his search for her. He had conquered the Andromeda Galaxy in his search for his young daughter and then, a short time after the conquest, he had sired his first son. Miss. EshalVile Eskara Surfeit was the Crown Princess of the Vaisha, Andromeda and Bula Galaxies, the Goblin claimed, the Goblin also claimed that Miss. EshalVile Eskara Surfeit was the cousin of Master Vile which would make Mr. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit Master Vile's uncle. The last thing that the Goblin said surprised Caroline, the Goblin claimed that the planet's heroine, Angel Irene, had adopted Miss. EshalVile Eskara Surfeit a long time ago. Up to that moment in time, both Caroline, George and Erik thought that Angel Irene had only five children, all of which were sons. To find out that she also had an adopted daughter was a shock to all of them. After the Goblin had relayed all of this to everyone that was in the room he clamped his mouth shut, he and the rest of the Goblins moved not an inch. Caroline, George and Erik all stood up, they looked over at Master Vile who looked almost ready to explode and then they looked over at the man that's name they knew was TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit. Mr. Surfeit had moved not an inch since the Goblin had started speaking loudly of who his daughter was, he was standing as still as a statue but by the way he looked in the face they all knew that if he had to move he would do so and quickly.

"My lovely wife had my daughter the entire time," TazirVile spoke up, taking the story up from where the Goblin had left off. "I could have well sent the lovely lady to prison for kidnap. I could have killed her for doing such a thing but by then I had started to notice sudden... changes within emotion and feeling between us. We coupled a week after I conquered the Andromeda Galaxy, our first son was conceived during that first coupling."

"Are you quite finished?" Master Vile spat. "No one in this room cares to hear of y-..."

"Although I raised and loved Bile Vile, my lovely wife's firstborn son, as one of my own for four hundred years I did not formally adopt him until he was four hundred years and six months old. My two, younger sons were conceived soon after." TazirVile Surfeit spoke over his nephew. "I have five children in all, five heirs to my kingdoms, and yet here I am with only one at my side and why is that? Mr. Zultoa, speak up! Why is it that I have only one of my five offspring at my side?"

"Because they are here, seen and photographed and video taped in a known area protected by shields put up over two thousand years before now by your wife." a light-blue skinned Goblin who had blue eyes and who looked rather elderly said in a loud and clear voice. Erik saw that the Goblin was wearing a light blue tuxedo, he also noticed that the Goblin had quite a lot of wrinkles on his face and that he had a rather long nose that housed two, large nostrils.

"It has been known that my sons have been on this damn planet for _over five, bloody, months _and _you've not told a soul about it!_" TazirVile shouted angrily. "That is called involuntary kidnap! You've had knowledge of where my sons were for five-..."

"Nearly two months, Uncle. Not five, I suspected, I didn't-..."

"It doesn't matter! You knew and you kept it to yourself!" spit flew out of TazirVile Surfeit's O-shaped mouth, he clinched and then unclinched his fists and then he walked towards Master Vile. "I have a right in being on this bloody planet! By the ink that is just barely five days old on the reinstated court order that I was given last year by the Elder Courts I can be on this fucking planet as long as I see fit and you can't do or say a damn thing about it! My sons are on this planet...-"

"I'll have that court order so cancelled by the end of this day that-..."

"You can do nothing on the court order! I, along with anyone involved or attached to the search for my missing family, are immune to you and any punishments that you may try to throw at us and I have made damn sure that you are not allowed to bully-in on giving any of the persons involved in the search for my wife and sons the boot out of our homes or in seizing any assets or monies that we own. You will be subjected to hefty fines if you try on the first attempt, the next you will be subjected to a nice jail cell in Briley's for a hundred years."

"Show me the damn order that says this," Caroline noted a hint of nervousness in Master Vile's voice, this sort of made her want to laugh a little. Up to that moment in time she had never seen the man speak or act nervously.

"In a minute, the first thing that you shall do for me is spill your guts on the whereabouts of my still missing wife." TazirVile said.

It happened very quickly, Caroline was hardly able to remember it all even though she did try hard to do so. After the man named TazirVile Surfeit had demanded to know the whereabouts of Angel Irene one of the staff that worked loyally for Master Vile lunged towards TazirVile Surfeit in a hostile way. The Goblins worked quickly to push the man, Caroline thought that it was Nygiti but she wasn't very sure, back while TazirVile Surfeit simply stood in place. Lynster lunged towards the Goblin that had the short, gray hair sticking out from his ears and he was beaten back while Galong shot a beam of red light towards the Gray Alien looking beings that were circling EshalVile Surfeit. As the Goblins were dealing with Galong and Lynster, Erik Bloomberg's panic grabbed a-hold of him. Erik Bloomberg turned and ran up the Grand Staircase and then he made a left turn, Caroline and George Davis followed soon after. The sounds of the others behind them, the screaming and the yelling and then the sounds of things either breaking or exploding, were loud at first and then they dimmed. The staircase that they were about to leave behind had a red carpet on it that had gold trim on the sides, just as Caroline was about to slow her run she heard something behind. She turned her head to the side, yelled out in panic and then, in a move that she hoped would help her become faster, she kicked off her heels. She had just left her heeled shoes behind when her feet touched the landing that came off of the Grand Staircase.

"A room! Pick a room dammit, we have company behind us!" Caroline screamed.

Erik led the group, he was a good three feet in front of George Davis while Caroline Louise Roberts was one and a half feet down from George, he had no clue as to who it was that was their "company" and he really didn't want to know. All he cared about at the moment was getting the hell out of the building and away from the alien creatures that were downstairs. For the past five months he had been struggling with his health because of everything that had been going on, he was lucky to be still able to use his legs as his doctors the year before had said that he would be wheelchair-bound within four months time. Although he was not yet in a wheelchair he knew that all this tension and fear and nervousness was not doing a thing of good for his health, this run from the monsters and aliens that were on the first floor of the White House wasn't very good for his health either but he had already made the decision that health was a luxury at the moment. He was willing to put his whole life on the line at the moment and he was sure that there were others that had the same on their minds, when there were monsters and aliens running around and causing all matter of disruption on the planet no one person was going to have normal living high up on their list of things to do. Here he was, seventy-six and with a severe case of diabetes, his wife was six months fresh in the ground while his younger brother had been put in the ground three years prior. Although he wasn't very keen on the idea of passing on in this life and going onto the next he did figure that, if he was to die, it was best to be done when there were only two of the alien or monster-like creatures around, he thought that he'd be much happier and less stressed out while going onto the next life with that number being around him at that delicate moment in time. Just as Caroline was yelling that the aliens were gaining on them, Erik picked a room to run into. He grabbed a doorknob that was silver and white and then, with a twist, he shoved the door in. He ran in quickly, George and Caroline ran in next a few seconds later, George was just grabbing the door to slam it shut when one of the two aliens ran into the room. George tried to sucker punch the alien out of the room but, instead of his fist meeting up against the flesh of the alien's face it met up against the alien's hand. The alien grabbed George Davis' fist and then, with a heave, the alien hurled George far across the room.

"Protect you heads!" Erik yelled, he dropped to the floor and then he wrapped his arms around his head.

"Fuck your heads, protect your rectums!" George Davis said back, he had backed himself into one of the room's corners.

"Should we interrogate or sit tight and wait for Tazzy, pop?" the alien that had shoved George across the room asked the alien that was just walking in through the open door.

"I think Tazir has his hands full downstairs, son. Let's lessen his workload in interrogating these three." the other alien replied.

"By invasion or-..."

As the two aliens spoke of how they were going to interrogate them, Caroline, Erik and George got a good look at them. The one that had come into the room first was pretty tall, he stood six-foot two and a quarter inches tall and he had dark blue skin that looked to fit his body rather tightly. His upside down, teardrop-shaped face had two, large, oval-shaped eyes in it that were a silverish bronze color. Underneath his eyes he had two holes where a nose would normally be and underneath them two holes was an O-shaped mouth. The alien had a rather muscular body on him, despite the fact that he was wearing a white, button down, long sleeve shirt Caroline could see the thick muscle that was on his arms. Besides the white, button down, long sleeve shirt, the alien was also wearing a pair of light brown khakis pants, he had light brown shoes on his feet that had dark brown ties on them. Like EshalVile Surfeit, the alien had suction-cups on the tips of each of his fingers. Caroline, Erik and George quickly found out through the other alien that the alien that had come into the room first was named Efagti, it was obvious to all three of them that the two aliens were not only related but were father and son.

The alien that walked into the room that they had decided to try to hide in had a confident look to him that, in some small way, Caroline found rather attractive. He was tall, about six-foot, three inches, and he had dark blue skin. Like the other alien, he had an upside down, teardrop-shaped face but his eyes were different from his sons. His eyes were almond-shaped and they were a bright bronze color, the left eye had some sort of monocle over it that had a gold chain connected to it. There were two holes under the alien's eyes where a nose would normally be and, underneath them there was an O-shaped mouth, the alien had a lot of muscle on his arms and chest while the rest of him was slender. Like the alien whose name was Efagti, the older alien had suction-cups on the tips of each of his fingers. The older alien was wearing a pair of brown pants and a light brown, long sleeve, button-down shirt, the alien had a black vest over his shirt that had brown ties on it. The alien had brown boots on his feet, there was a gold chain running from the left breast pocket of his vest to the left pocket of his pants, Caroline guessed that the alien had some sort of watch connected to the end of the chain. Caroline was about to speak to the two aliens when they turned and looked at her, instead of speaking to the aliens she took two steps back in fear.

"If you three have any concerns about your employer's well-being let me put them to bed now," the older alien that had the monocle over his left eye said. "he may get a beating or two and he may have a major headache after we leave here but he'll survive."

"Pound 'em into hamburger meat," George said. "just leave us be. We want no involvement in any personal issues that you people or he have between yourselves."

"Is it three men that we are speaking with or-..."

"Are you implying that I'm a male, Mr. Alien?" Caroline asked, she flashed the alien that wore the monocle a little smile.

"No ma'am and you may call me Mr. Ubalki if you wish." the alien said. "Pardon me for saying this but you do have a rather... unique look to you miss."

"Mrs., and it's not by my choice." Caroline said back. "The one that should be given credit on my appearance is the creep downstairs."

"More like a douche bag than a creep to me," George said.

"You three don't seem very loyal to the man," Mr. Ubalki said, he cleared his throat once before going on. "make our chore a little easier please. We need information on where a woman that you people know as Angel Irene is. We've seen evidence that shows that her sons are on this planet but-..."

"Why in blue blazes should we tell any of you frocking aliens where Miss. Irene is?" Erik snapped.

"Miss. Irene is our planet's heroine, why should we help any alien or monster that wishes to do her or her sons harm?" George crossed his arms over his chest, he looked at the two aliens intently while Erik ducked his head back into his arms.

"We don't mean her or her sons any harm," Mr. Ubalki said.

"I don't think speaking cordially is going to work with these three, pop." the other alien said.

"Efagti, sometimes speaking is better then just diving right into a situation that has already been put into a stressed state." Mr. Ubalki said to his son, he then turned his attention onto Caroline, Erik and George. "I'm a rather patient and understanding man, I understand that you three are only wanting to protect your planet's heroine. We mean no harm to the woman that you people know only as Angel Irene, we love her as much as you do... maybe a little more since we are kin to her." Mr. Ubalki paused for a few seconds before going on. "I can promise you three that neither she nor any of her sons will be harmed, we just need to know if she is on this planet and where exactly on this planet she is. You three can help us on that matter in a great many of ways by simply cooperating in saying where she is or if you have seen or heard of her being on this planet."

"Like I'm going to spill intelligence on my planet's heroine to a damn brain-sucking alien that has the word fag in his name." George said in an aggressive tone, he then locked his eyes with Mr. Ubalki's. "That goes double for you, Mr. Hot-fucking-shot."

That proved to be a very wrong move on George's part, although Caroline and Erik agreed with George they did wish that he would not have worded what he had said in such a way. As the alien known as Efagti was using his telekinetic powers to force George Davis up against the wall so he could use his telepathic powers to search the man's brain for any clues as to where Angel Irene was and as the alien known only as Mr. Ubalki was doing the same with Erik Bloomberg and as a throng of Goblins were holding Master Vile down so TazirVile could search his brain with his telepathic powers and as Caroline Louise Roberts was screaming and then shrinking back into one of the corners of the room that she had followed George and Erik into, Angel Irene was driving like a maniac down an empty highway in south Germany. The last thirty-five minutes had been hell for her, the gondola shelf that had fallen on her soon after the quake had started had remained on her for all of ten minutes before someone had come to help her get it off and she had had a hard time in getting out of the building where she had been working at for nearly two months because of all the debris that had been in the aisles. People were more than a little scared, they were plumb terrified and she could fully understand that as she had grown terrified as well. It had not been only her that had been pinned down under something in the U-Krop-It building during the quake that early morning, nearly everyone that had been in the store had been pinned underneath something, the people that had not been pinned underneath something had done all that they could in helping the ones that had become trapped, the only reason why she had been trapped under the gondola shelf for so long was because she had been in the way back of the building. If she had been more up near the front or in the center of the building she would have been able to be saved earlier, right after one of her co-workers had heaved the gondola shelf off of her she had scrambled up to her feet and then she had started for the door. The going had been difficult, there had been a lot in the way to slow her down so it had taken a full five minutes before she had been able to walk out of the sliding, glass-less doors and then get to her car. Once she had gotten into her car she had started going into a new panic, she had pushed the key into the ignition and then she had sped off, the only thing that had been running itself through her brain for the past fifteen minutes was centered on the well-being of her five sons.

The store that she had started working at had dropped two of its former employees a few days before and two others had gotten sick, there had been a need for four of the present employees to work overtime just to keep things running smoothly and the manager had set his sights on her for one of them overtime slots. She had tried to get out of it by saying that she needed to be home with her boys, her boss would not hear of it, he had threatened to fire her if she didn't come in for her scheduled overtime working slot and, since she was the parent and the adult of the family and since there did need to be someone in the household that needed to be working full-time she had reluctantly agreed to take the job. If she had known about this early morning quake she would have told her boss to shove the overtime job up his ass, she would have stayed at home to make sure that her kids were safe. What had happened after the quake had started? Had her children been smart enough to get out of the house? Had Bile and Lhaklar helped Hazaar, who had a right bad limp due to his chipping a bone in his hip and his bruising the bone in his knee a week before when he and Lazeer had been in China looking for Salamanders and frogs? Had Bile and Lhaklar helped Lazeer and Guyunis out of the house? Had her two, older sons helped each other in getting out of the house and were they doing their best to keep them all safe and calm in this situation? Bile and Lhaklar were the older of her five sons, although they did have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders in keeping their younger brothers safe when she was not at home to keep everything and everyone in line she knew that they were young and inexperienced and she also knew that they were both probably scared out of their minds about what was going on. She had tried to teleport after getting out of the U-Krop-It building and she had found herself unable to, driving... or speeding was the best way in getting home and she was planning on doing just that. She had her foot pressed nearly to the floorboard of her Porsche D2, the speedometer read 85, she wished that the car could go faster than that.

The highway that she left behind had had maybe two or three cars parked on its sides, the town roads that she was now speeding down were empty and that saved her from slowing down. There were people on the sides of the road, either running or just plain standing around in little groups of four or five, she saw several people that were wearing military uniforms and that spooked her something awful. Why were their people of the military on the sides of the road? Had something happened, had the German government declared martial law or were the military there to prevent looting? None of the military people flagged her down, a few people turned to look at her but no one bothered her as she sped along and she was glad for that. None of the buildings that she drove by had power, the road that she was driving down was as black as night because the pole lamps were not on. It was now running on thirty minutes after the quake had started, power had yet to reset itself after it had gone down. As she turned onto the stretch of road that ran into the neighborhood that the house that Stefan Leinart had generously purchased for her and her sons another thought ran itself through her mind.

After the quake had stopped had her sons been wise enough to stick together or had they decided to split up? Had Bile and Lhaklar kept everyone together and had they asked one of the neighbors if they could stay with them for a short while before she returned home? Her biological sons had experience in earthquakes... but not of the magnitude of the one that had just happened. She was sure that they were all scared, who in their right mind wouldn't be? She was scared to death but the main reason for her fear to be as high as it was was because she had no clue as to what was going on with her children. The thought of a possible space intruder coming to the planet never ran through her mind, the thought that her Universal Husband was the one that had come to the planet never run through her brain and she very nearly forgot about the dark gray snow that was falling from the sky. The air was heavy, she had coughed once or twice during her mad race back home but she hadn't really thought about it. The road that she was on was coated in two and a half feet of the dark gray snow, her car threatened to turn off twice which added more fear onto what she was already feeling. She was just reaching the middle part of the street that the house that she and her sons had been living in for nearly two months when the power started to blink on in the houses. She heard a cheer rise up from the people that lived in the neighborhood, did five of them cheers belong to her sons? Angel was just passing by the house that was four houses from the one that she and her sons lived in when her car died. She wasted no time after her car died on her, she threw the door open and then she leaped out. She ran the rest of the way to the house, when she reached the corner of the yard that the house had been built on she turned, she ran through the blanket of dark gray snow right to the front door that was wide open.

"_Bile!_"she screamed after she had ran into the house, of which was right cold, quiet and still. "_Bile! Lhaklar! Guyunis! Hazaar! Lazeer!_"

She flicked light switches on left and right as she went through the house, there was glass all over the dark red carpet that ran through most of the house and most of the furniture that was in the house had been moved from the places that they been placed on nearly two months ago. The 40" big screen tv had, miraculously, remained above the gas-powered fireplace but most of the photographs that she had put up around the front of the fireplace were now on the floor. All of the photographs that she had put up on the walls were on the floor, the photographs that were on the walls that were on either side of the stairs were on the floor, Angel didn't bother to stop to pick any of them up, she went up to the second level of the house and then she started looking in the rooms that her sons had probably been in when the quake had started. She went into Guyunis's room first, she looked around and then she left that room and went across the hall to Lazeer's room. After she had checked Lazeer's room she checked Lhaklar's, she checked the room that she slept in and then she went into Hazaar's and then Bile's rooms. All of the rooms had things on the floors, her sons' hunting trophies, some CDs, some magazines and plenty of glass from the windows that had exploded but none of the rooms had her sons in them. Her sons were not at home, they were out of the house, where were they? Angel tore down the stairs and then she ran out of the house, she looked around for a short while and then she just turned and ran across the yard towards the house that the Klied's lived in. Mitzi and Kurt Klied's house was fully lit up and there looked to be people inside the house, did they know where her sons were? Had they seen her sons or had they just looked after their own? Angel ran to the front door and then she knocked on it loud and hard, the door was answered half a minute later by a woman that, at first, she didn't recognize.

"Miss. Irene!" Mitzi Klied exclaimed after she had opened the door.

"Hello, I'm sorry for making this quick but I'm looking for my sons." Angel said. "I had to work overtime tonight, I couldn't be here with them or come home until now. Do you know where my boys are, they're-..."

"Right here," Mitzi said, she wrapped her hand around Angel's wrist and then she pulled Angel into her house quickly. "things were a bit hectic after... after what happened but we were able to coax them into our home."

"Are they-..."

"My husband did treat some injuries on them, two of your sons really can't walk well but they're fine. Just worried to a frazzle about you, that's all that is really wrong with them." Mitzi said.

Thirty-five minutes, it seemed more like an eternity to her but it had really only been thirty-five minutes since the quake had stopped and the snow had started to fall. Naturally, everyone in the neighborhood had been scared to a panic but everyone had helped each other and there had been no fights or sightings of robberies. Naturally, the first thing that had happened after everyone had calmed down from their fears was to check and see if everyone was okay. Her husband had gone around the neighborhood with a small first aid kit to help those in need of medical attention while she had checked on the neighbors that were on her stretch of the street. The Abbings' were fine, just very badly shaken up. The Carvers had already piled into one of their cars, they had left the neighborhood to stay with relatives for a short while. The Basingers' were fine, so were the Dreyfuss's and the Geller's. The Fayner's had already started cleaning up their house while the Bluhm's had simply been sitting out on their front porch. The Benz's and the Wulff's had not been at home while Miss. Schmidt and her fiancée, Mr. Kaiser, had been debating on whether to stay or leave for Mr. Kaiser's parents' house that was a few miles away. The Maurer's had been scared but they had assured her that they would be fine, after she had checked the neighborhood she had started the walk home. During her walk back home she had happened on one of the Irene kids, he had been running down the street in a panicked sort of way, the poor kid had only stopped running when she had grabbed him, he had been shivering in cold and he had also had a wound to the side of his head that had been bleeding right profusely. She had walked him over to her house, had told him to both calm down and to sit on the couch and then she had gone over to the old Kaufer house to see if the other Irene kids were okay.

The kids had been discovered in the basement, they had all had blankets wrapped around them and most of them had had injuries on them of some sort. She had coaxed them over to her place and then she had let her husband take over in medicating their wounds. The older boy was the luckier of the five, Kurt had only had to treat him for the cuts that had been on the young man's feet and for the open wound that had been on the young man's left elbow. Lhaklar, the second oldest of the five, had had some bruises on his chest, stomach and ribs that her husband had only looked at and he had also had a gash on the top of his head that had required some stitches, Kurt had only wrapped the wound up, he had wanted the kid to go to the hospital to get the stitches but the kid had not wanted to do so. The third oldest of the Irene kids, Guyunis, had probably had the worst injury of the five boys. His right knee had swelled up to twice its size, he could hardly walk on it. Kurt had diagnosed the young man as having a possible fracture of the knee bone, he had wanted to send the kid off to the hospital but the kid had said that he wasn't going nowhere without his bruders or his mutter. Kurt had left the kid with some ice bags and then he had gone on to checking the next kid. Hazaar, the second youngest of the Irene kids, had had three broken fingers on his left hand and two broken fingers on his right hand and he had also had some issues with his ribs, Kurt said that the kid had either some cracked or bruised ribs. Hazaar had a rather difficult time walking and the reason for that was because of a pre-existing injury to his left hip and knee. Although Guyunis had the worst injury of the five boys, the younger of the five had an injury on him that was just as bad. Lazeer, the youngest of the five Irene kids, had a gash that went diagonally over his left eye... and he had also had some cuts on the soles of his feet too. Kurt had taken one look at the gash and then he had said that the only thing he could do was wrap a thin layer of bandaging over it to stint the blood flow. Lazeer would need stitches but, since the wound was in such a delicate area on the kid's face, her husband just didn't have the nerve to stitch it up. Like Lhaklar and Guyunis, Lazeer refused to go anywhere without his bruders or his mutter. She had taken the Irene kids to her and her husband's living room, they were still there, they had not moved an inch after she had coaxed them over to her place. The boys were scared, which was normal, and they were hurting, which was also normal, and they were worried to death about their dear mum.

"We've been in the dark for nearly forty minutes," Mitzi said. "I found four of your sons in the basement of your house, they had blankets around them to keep them warm. Lhaklar, I found him running down the street. Said something about looking for a cat, wouldn't be surprised that he just ran off to look for you though."

"Lhaklar was out running in the street?" Angel exclaimed in a whisper.

"Yes, the others seemed rather happy to see him. A cat was found near here and his bruders do say that he did run off in pursuit of a cat." Mitzi said. "Guyunis has the cat now, he does say that it is his."

"They've been through earthquakes before," Angel said. "but never of this... of this magnitude. This is my first experience as well, I've never gone through something like this before."

Mitzi led her neighbor into her living room and then she just stood in the background. Most of the kids had fallen asleep, the only one that was awake was Guyunis and when he saw his mutter he shot up from the couch quickly. Miss. Irene went to him, she grabbed him up in a hug and then she told him to sit down which he did. Miss. Irene went from one of her children to the next, waking them up gently and then giving them hugs and then telling them that it was alright and that she was there now. Mitzi knew that she would be doing the same thing, if she had been someplace else away from her two daughters and a quake like the one that had happened nearly forty minutes before had occurred she would have been scared half to death. Miss. Irene was conducting herself well, if it had been her in Miss. Irene's shoes she would have been grabbing each of her children up in tight hugs, she might plant a few kisses on her daughter's cheeks and she might fuss over them to see if they were alright, Miss. Irene was approaching the situation in a very calm way so not to aggravate any of the injuries that her sons had on them and so not to make her sons grow upset or become embarrassed. When Miss. Irene was done checking over her sons and telling them that she was there and that everything was going to be alright she turned around, Mitzi had only to look at the face of her neighbor to know that her neighbor was going to ask her something.

"I know it may be a burden but do you think I can leave them here for a few hours?" Angel Irene asked. "I need to get the house cleared of all the glass that is in it and I also need to see about getting the house warmed up some. I'll probably also need to see about catching some escaped frogs, salamanders and turtles while doing so."

"I have no problem in their staying here, I'll make sure that they stay safe." Mitzi said. "My husband and daughter's went out just ten minutes ago to look for our dog so I understand about the escaped pets thing. The neighborhood pets got just as scared as we all did, I wouldn't be surprised if I see missing pet signs on fence posts or in shop windows later on today."

"Thank you, I hope your husband and daughter's find your dog soon," Angel Irene said, she then turned to her sons. "you five behave yourselves. It'll only be a few hours, try to get some sleep."


	19. Chapter 19

"Mr. Leinart, the latest just came in from the chief on the situation that is going on just outside of Rastatt." Lise Raskop, a woman of medium-height who had dark, blonde hair and dark blue eyes, said as she walked into Stefan Leinart's office.

Stefan Leinart, who was trying to work on some of the paperwork that he had been given earlier that day, looked up after his personal assistant walked into his office. The man slid the paperwork to the side and then he stood up from the black leather swivel chair that was behind his dark brown wooden desk, since his arms felt a little stiff he did a slight stretch to loosen the bones and muscles that were in them, after the muscles and bones that were in his arms had been loosened up some he walked around his desk. Lise, on instinct, handed the man the folder that she had in her hands when he reached her then she stood back, the man who had won the presidency eight months before walked over to one of the windows that were in his office that had just been given a new pane of glass after the old pane had exploded during the earthquake that had happened only seven days before, he opened the folder and then he began to look through the papers that were in it slowly. It took him a few minutes before he turned around, he closed the folder with a sigh and then he walked back over to his desk.

"I asked that only one drone be sent out to check into the situation, not three. Why did Ajeet Ballal send out three?" Stefan Leinart asked after he had sat down behind his desk.

"Sir, I'm not really sure why the third one was sent out but I do know that a second drone was sent out after the first one was shot down." Lise said, Stefan looked at her in surprise.

"_Shot down_? By whom? Did the drone-..."

"The last image that the chief says he saw on the screens was of some Troll-like creature pointing a strange gun at the drone." Lise said. "The creature just aimed and fired, the drone went down a few seconds later. Practically exploded."

"Any explanation as to why it exploded?" Stefan asked. "Why did a second drone get sent out?"

"No sir, the second drone was sent out after the sun set, the chief had hoped that the drone wouldn't be seen." Lise replied.

"Was it? Did this second drone capture anything?"

"Not much, two creatures that look like the taller form of the Gray Aliens of folklore, and a bunch of Troll-like creatures setting up some sort of weird, crystal-like lights that floated above the snow." Lise replied, she then added. "A news agency captured the fall of the third drone."

"What happened to the second drone?" Stefan asked. "What caused the third drone to fall?"

"We're not sure on the second drone, sir. It just disappeared." Lise said. "The third drone was taken down by a strange ship that showed up earlier this morning, the ship just barreled into it as if it was nothing."

"Ship? What _ship_?" Stefan asked, now clearly alarmed.

"The drone didn't get any good footage of it, the ship just came out of nowhere." Lise said. "The KLB9 News did capture footage of the ship, though. It had a skull on it that was surrounded by a pretty thick silver coil."

Stefan looked down at the folder and then he reached his hand up, his orange-brown hair was already a mess from his not running a comb through it for five days, he messed it up more by running his hand through it once. For the past five days he had been residing in his office, he had not left the Chancellory building for five, long days and the reason for that was partly because of the surplus workload that was being thrown his way after the surprise earthquake that had happened a week ago at 2:27 a.m. UTC. Besides having to sign help relief forms that would send a generous amount of money to the people that lived in his country that seriously needed it to help pay for repairs to their homes he had also had to sign forms for certain streets or sidewalks that had been damaged during the quake to be repaired, the last help relief form that he had signed had gone to the smaller owned businesses that had been damaged by last week's quake. He had signed a bill that would increase the country's security and he had also signed the order forms for Ajeet Ballal, an Indian man who had been born in Germany who was the Chief of the Staff of the Federal Armed Forces, to begin looking into the little known situation that was going on nearly five miles from the city of Rastatt.

When the earthquake had struck a week ago he and his family, like most everyone else that had been affected by the earthquake a week ago, had been at home. He, his wife and their three children had been all safe and sound and asleep in their beds when the first tremors had been felt, after the initial fear-period had passed he had gotten down to business in getting his family out of the house. He had carried his wife, who had had their youngest child in her arms at the time, down the stairs and then out of the house, his two daughter's had been right behind him so he had not had to go back into the house for them which had been a huge relief off of his shoulders. The family dog and cats had gone missing for all of six days, his wife and kids had gone out looking for them while he had been office-stuck and, since the earthquake, and the following strange snowfall, had been so bad, he had given the order that all schools in the country to be closed for maintenance checks. Naturally, all of his country's children had been glad about that. The parents of the country's children, the next generation, had been relieved in knowing that they were not sending their kids off to a possibly unstable school building. Most of the schools had been reopened, only a dozen had been damaged during the quake, the children that had been going to the schools that had been damaged during last week's quake were now being bused to a different school that was near their homes that had not been damaged by the quake.

Naturally, the first question asked by the planet's people had been where the earthquake had come from and if the quake had been a hint towards something bigger that had yet to happen. For the first two days of his residing in the Chancellory building he had constantly been on the phone with the country's most known scientists and seismologists and with high members of the military, the scientists and seismologists that he had talked to had said that the earthquake had not happened normally. There had been either no seismic activity noted on the seismic equipment or the activity that had been noted had been normal, there had been no warnings or signs as to such a high-level, full planetary, quake happening. The scientists that he had talked to had also been baffled about the strange weather that had started happening right after the earthquake had stopped, a dark gray snow had started to fall right after the quake had gone quiet and it had continued to snow for all of a week before stopping. That day, exactly one week after the earthquake had occurred, the snow had just stopped falling. The sun had come out and the snow had just evaporated, there was no more snow on the ground which was strange as there had been nearly five feet of the stuff on the ground. The dark gray snow had not just dropped on Germany, it had dropped all over the planet and it had always been a dark gray color and it had piled up very quickly. On the 4th of October, one day after the earthquake had happened, efforts for earthquake Clean-Up had been slowed up by the snow. On estimate, only two hundred roads had been accessed and maybe two hundred homes had been inspected and then repaired, of the two hundred roads that had been accessed only thirty had been repaired because of the snow.

The snow had been studied by the country's top scientists, he had paid special attention to their studies and he had been told very quickly that the snow contained elements of Trioxygen - a commonly pale-blue gas that had a distinctively pungent odor. The scientists that had studied the snow had said that they were clueless as to why the snow contained Trioxygen, they had deemed the snow as abnormal and they had said that it was slightly harmful to people who had sensitive respiratory systems before they had gone on to checking the strange weather phenomena's that were showing up in Africa, Europe, China, Japan and Egypt. The snow that had started falling right after the earthquake had fallen for all of a week before it had stopped, all of the accumulated snow that had been on the ground had melted within six hours time and boy was it causing all sorts of trouble.

Most of the wildlife that had been outside of the shield had fled his country, the animals that were fit and healthy had all up and left for a warmer area after the weather had made a turn for the worse on the 5th of October. The temperatures on the 5th of October had dropped to nearly ten below, the snow that had already been on the ground and on the roofs of houses and business buildings had froze up. The windowless hospitals and medical clinics had looked to be doing well on medical supplies before the 5th of October, when people had started showing up with extreme frost bite and other cold-weather related injuries and ailments medical supplies had started dwindling. Some of the smaller medical clinics and hospitals had started ambulancing their current patients to other hospitals just to make room for the new patients that were coming in. The help relief forms that he had signed on the 4th had only just started to be sent out, he had found himself demanding that the medical supply stocks in the warehouses that were up in North Germany be distributed out to the hospitals and medical clinics that needed them most which his military and security detail had graciously done. As if all of that wasn't bad enough, on the same day that the temperature had dropped to below ten degrees his people had started to panic when the sky had been blackened by the birds that had suddenly decided to leave Europe.

When the sun had come out and the snow had done its record-breaking melting the Rhine River, along with all of its tributaries, and all of the creeks and streams that were in his country had started overflowing their banks. The animals that had not been able to leave the area because of either their advanced age or because of some pre-existing or just made injury had done their best to find ground that was solid, he had seen several clips on the news about how the remaining Roe deer population had nearly been swallowed up by a quagmire. A Eurasian Lynx had just barely made its way out of one of the deep quagmires that was south of his location, local wildlife groups were actually leaving the protection of the shields that were around the cities and towns of his country to rescue deer and other wildlife that were getting stuck in the mires. As if the quick melting snow turning the ground into soupy quagmires and the rivers, creeks and streams overflowing their banks wasn't bad enough there were plenty of reports in the local newspapers about the thousands of fish that were being seen floating on the surface of their river, creek and stream homes. The sediment that was on the bottoms of the rivers, streams and creeks was being forced up to the surface by the turbulent waters and that sediment was causing the fish populations that were in the water sources suffocate.

Besides having to read over and then sign help relief forms and besides his high interest in the studies over the quake that everyone on the planet had felt, he had an equally high interest in the strange weather that the scientists that had studied the snow were looking into. According to the men that he had talked to on the phone there were signs of late-season hurricanes and typhoons forming in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and there were signs of very powerful storm systems moving across Africa, Egypt, China and Japan, everywhere else it had grown either very cold or very hot and, again, the scientists had no clue as to why this was happening. Besides writing out and then signing forms for earthquake-related damage relief and for Winter Weather Relief and keeping one of his ears open as to what the scientists were discovering in the sudden change in the weather he was also having to keep an ear and an eye open as to what was going on with the campsite that had been discovered five miles from the city of Rastatt four days ago. A group of three hunters who had been out looking for some deer meat had come upon the camp, the three men that had been in the group claimed that as soon as they had come upon the camp they had been chased off and, naturally, they had reported the incident to the Rastatt Police who had turned the report over to the military who had sent the report over to him. He had given the order for one unmanned drone to be flown out to see what the camp and its inhabitants looked like and, instead of it just being one drone being sent out, three had been sent out and he was just finding out that two of the three drones that had been sent out had been destroyed while another had just disappeared. What was worse than a full-planetary earthquake and a weeks worth of snowfall that had traces of a gaseous form in it that was harmful to civilians who had respiratory problems, why a possible hostile group of aliens that had decided to land their craft near a city that had a high population count.

"How many news broadcasts have been run on the camp?" Stefan asked his personal assistant, he had not been able to watch anything on the news for nearly twelve hours.

"Four or five, sir. Not many, only one news station had the nerve to leave the protection of the shields to get close-up footage and that was KLB9." Lise replied.

"_What!_"Stefan exclaimed, he had sat upright with this piece of news. Up to that moment, he had figured that all of the news agencies were capturing their footage of the camp from inside the shields. "I want that stopped! After the inhabitants of that c-..."

He didn't finish what he was about to say, he grabbed the phone that was on his desk and then he punched in the first four digits for the cable network that handled the link ups for the local news stations and then he slammed the phone down on its cradle after he had accidentally pressed a wrong number. Stefan took a deep breath to calm himself then he picked the phone up again, this time he had better success, he got the number dialed and then he waited for the operator. When the operator, a woman who sounded rather young, picked up he told her who he wanted to talk to, the operator put him on hold as she switched the communications boards. In the five minutes that he was forced to wait for the head honcho of the local KLB9 News to pick up his end of the phone he thought about the seriousness of the situation that was in front of him. A Troll-like creature had already been noted as taking one of the drones down, it had already been noted that the inhabitants of the camp that was five miles from the city of Rastatt were hostile so who said that the Troll-like creatures that had been seen in the camp wouldn't aim their guns towards innocent civilians? He shuddered with the thought of hearing or seeing on the news about one, or possibly even more than one, of the Troll-like creatures injuring or possibly killing one of the people that he governed over, he was just giving his head a slight shake when Franz Gottschalk, the head honcho of the KLB9 News, picked up the phone.

"Hello from the KLB9 News, name is Franz Gottschalk, how may I help you?"

"Hello Mr. Gottschalk, it's Stefan Leinart. How've you been?" Stefan started the conversation cordially so not to make the man that he was talking to angry. Franz Gottschalk was known for two, very important things: He was a business man and he had a rather bad temper, he flew off the handle at just about anything.

"Mr. Leinart, nothing much going on with me. Just doing my best to get the best scoop and then put the best stories on the air in record time." Franz said back. "How've you been, is this call on business or pleasure?"

"Honestly, it's a business call." Stefan said, since he didn't want Franz to know how he was or what he was doing he left the question of how he was unanswered. "I'm told that you've been sending people from your news station out of the shield just to capture a good story on the camp near Rastatt, that true or was I told false information?"

"Tis true my good man, the people have a right in knowing what is going on and since my station is the only one that has the balls of a bull we are bringing them the juicy bits of a damn good story." Franz said in a near excited tone of voice that annoyed Stefan. "We are the only news agency that captured the falling of a drone and the appearance of an alien space craft that looked-..."

"You sound as if what you and your agency is doing isn't dangerous." Stefan said, effectively cutting Franz off.

"Seems pretty safe, except for that one aircraft being run into by an alien craft we haven't seen anything hostile going on within the camp." Franz said, Stefan felt his temper gauge go up into the orange category.

"Safe? Look here, Mr. Gottschalk, that camp and its inhabitants are far from safe. I've got reports of them Troll-like creatures taking down highly expensive pieces of flying equipment. I've got reports of civilian hunters being chased after they've come upon the camp and I've got reports of highly expensive flying equipment going missing after it goes over that camp." Stefan said in a serious tone that had hints of anger in it. "That camp is no where near safe, if you and the people that work for you need a story then you best-..."

"People have a right in knowing what's going on, Stefan." Franz said. "You can't deny them of-..."

"I _can _when it comes to _potentially _dangerous _alien beings_!" Stefan near yelled. "Franz, have you been in the dark the past four months? We have no idea if them alien creatures that are in that camp are working in co-hoots with Master Vile, for all we know that cretin that took over the Americas phoned in some sort of back-up in an attempt to get into the shields so he can take over this part of the planet."

"I haven't been in the dark, I know what's going on in the Americas with that alien monster." Franz said, he cleared his throat rather noisily before going on. "Look, you captured my attention on the flying equipment that either was shot down or going missing after they've come upon that camp. Do you mind if I run a story on that? Can I quote y-..."

"No, you may not." Stefan said. "I'm going to tell you this once, If I find out that you've sent people from your news agency outside of the shield for a story that could well get them killed or captured you will find yourself sitting in a jail cell for endangerment of lives and possibly murder."

"_You can't do that!_"Franz exclaimed angrily. "You can't-..."

"Send your people outside of the shields again and you will find out how much I am able to do." Stefan said, he hung the phone up and then he sat back in his chair.

"Is there anything else that you wish for me to bring or get for you, Mr. Leinart?" Lise asked a minute and a half after her boss had ended his conversation with Franz Gottschalk.

Since it was nearing lunch hour he asked his assistant to go grab him a Mocha oreo shake and a thing of pretzel sticks, the second she left his office he grabbed the folder that he had only had in his possession for seventeen minutes. The folder, a dark blue leather one that had a hasp lock on its side, had a few photographs in one of its flaps that he was now pulling out, he had only looked at the handwritten and typed material after his assistant had handed it over to him. As he looked through the photographs he began to think over the other events that had happened in the week that had followed the earthquake that Europe's scientists and seismologists had dubbed a "Freak" due to it's peculiar characteristics such as the multi-colored sky lightning and the snow that had started falling after the quake had quieted down and, of course, the fact that most of the damage that had been noted to residential housing, educational and business buildings had been the sudden explosion of near everything that had glass in it. The windows that were in his and his family's house in Baden-Baden had all exploded inwards, so had all of their picture frames, the china that had been in the china cabinet and the glass collectibles that his wife had collected over the years and, when he had started his temporary residency in the Chancellory building five days ago, he had found that every single window in the building had also exploded along with nearly everything made of glass. There had been maybe fifteen hundred housing and business buildings that had foundation problems discovered in the past few days but, for the most part, it was just the glass windows and anything else that had glass in it that had been either damaged or destroyed by the quake.

Newspaper and mail delivery had been put to a halt for two whole days after the earthquake, when the newspapers had started being distributed again they had ran stories like crazy on the earthquake, the crazy snowfall and all of the other fine events that had happened the day after the earthquake had shook the entire planet. According to the newspaper that Lise Raskop had handed him on the 5th of October, over five hundred patients had been admitted to windowless hospitals or medical clinics for treatment of earthquake-related injuries within one hour of the quake's ending. At first, it had just been minor injuries such as gashes, scrapes, scratches and bruises that had been treated and then, twelve hours after the earthquake had stopped, people with serious to critical injuries had started coming in. On estimate, there had been somewhere around three hundred broken arms or legs, there had been over two hundred sprained ankles and there had been over four hundred broken wrists treated at hospitals and medical clinics all over Europe, Eurasia and the island nations. The injuries that had included glass being found in the patient could not be tallied, there were just too many of those types of injuries to really make a full-on count. Naturally, he had asked that the medical facilities' windows be replaced first and quickly just so the patients that were coming in for medical treatment wouldn't gain worse ailments such as common colds, pneumonia or influenza.

The camp that was five miles from the city of Rastatt had been seen on October the 6th, four days ago. The camp's discovery had been written in the newspapers and it had been talked about on the local news stations but both the newspapers and the local news stations had, thankfully, been left out in the dark about one, key, element that had happened on the same day. Reports had started being made about Troll-like creatures walking into the shields about two hours after the three hunters had been run off. The low-end of the reports claimed that only five Trolls have been seen walking into the shield, the high-end of the reports had claimed that as many as twenty Trolls had been seen as either walking or running through the shield. As soon as he had gotten them reports he had sent out a military squad of around fifty to check around the city of Rastatt for the reported Troll-invaders and, sure enough, his squad had chased off ten Trolls that had simply been walking about the city. There had been something written in the books of how a Troll-like species had been able to penetrate the shields, a Gray Alien-like being had led one assault on a town named Angel Grove that was located in the state of California that was in the United States and that same alien had been about to lead another assault on another town called Stone Canyon a few days - or was it weeks? - later. He had yet to do a brush-up on the chapter in the history books that told all of that but, from general, fragmented, memory he did remember that a Troll-like species could get into the shields with little or not trouble at all. On the same day that the Trolls had been chased out of the city of Rastatt he had given orders to Ajeet Ballal to send out one drone that could be controlled via remote control, Mr. Ballal had sent out two other drones without asking him for permission. Them drones were not cheap by any means, they cost his country around two mil. just to be manufactured and then equipped with all their little imagery devices, the two destroyed drones had cost his country four million dollars while there was another two million still not accounted for in the missing second drone.

As he was remembering all of that he was looking at the photographs that were in the folder, the first photographer showed the little fucker who had shot at the first drone that had been sent out. The Troll who was holding a bizarre looking gun that had a fine point to it looked to be rather short in stature. The Troll-like creature was maybe four-foot, five or six inches tall, he had stringly hair that looked blond and, curiously, he was wearing a green military uniform. The date on the bottom left corner of the photograph said that the photograph had been taken at exactly 11:09:45 a.m. UTC on October the 6th, 4100. The second photograph showed the camp in full, there was a kite-shaped space ship in the center of the camp that had a strange alien skull that had a forked tongue coming out of it painted on its front. The owner of the camp had made both a wise and an unwise decision on camp picking, the kite-shaped ship was situated right between the Rhine river, the Old Rhine and the Gans-Rhine, a river that ran off of the Murg river. He knew from experience that that particular area was a hot spot for hunting and fishing and river recreational sports but, at the moment, it was a right dangerous location because of the overflow that was coming off of the Rhine and Murg rivers. Like the photograph of the Troll that had the gun, the photograph of the camp had been taken on the 6th of October, 4100 but it had been taken a full ten seconds before the drone had photographed the Troll.

The next four photographs had more Trolls in them and they had all been taken at the same time, at 06:45:09 p.m. UTC on the 7th of October, 4100. Like Mrs. Raskop had said, the Trolls that were in the photographs were putting up some sort of weird, floating, crystal-like lights that had a thin beam of yellow coming out from their sides. Curiously, all of the Trolls that were in them photographs were wearing tuxedos. There were two Trolls that were wearing brown tuxedos, there were three Trolls that were wearing white or light-colored tuxedos and there were two other Trolls that were wearing plain, black tuxedos. Except for the general noting of the tuxedos, Stefan didn't pay much attention to the basic physical appearances of the Trolls, he placed them photographs down and then he picked up the ones that had two, tall beings that resembled Gray Aliens in them. Interestingly, the two Gray Alien-like beings looked similar but they were very different in clothing apparel. One of the two aliens that were in the photographs that he was now looking at was wearing blue pants, very formal in appearance, a white t-shirt and either black or brown shoes while the other alien was wearing a rather wild in design tuxedo. The light wasn't very good in the photographs that had the Gray Alien-like beings in them, the last photograph that he looked at showed the alien that wore the strange tuxedo had his arm swinging out, there was either something clear coming out of the alien's hand or the camera that had been on the drone had had a malfunction of some type. Stefan was just turning the photograph of the alien that was swinging his arm out when his cellular phone began ringing.

"Hello?" he said after he had flipped the top to his phone up.

"Daaaat!" he nearly had to hold the phone away from his ear, it was his middle child, Thede, who was ten years old, on the other end.

"Hello Thede," he said. "how's it going at home?"

"Okay, I guess. Mum and Annelise found the cats and the dog, all of the windows have glass in them again." Thede replied. "Mum used the vac and the cleaner on the carpets, we're all stuck in the kitchen for a while."

"Sounds like everything is doing well over there." he said.

"It is sooooo boring!" Thede moaned loudly. "There's nothing to do but watch the yard grow wetter and muddier, dat. Rainmund has some cards to play with but even he is bored."

"That s-..."

"Annelise says that you have Miss. Irene's number, she says that Miss. Irene can make the ground go from being wet to dry. Can you call Miss. Irene up so she can dry our yards so I can go out and play?" Thede begged.

"Thede, although Miss. Irene would gladly do what you ask just to make you feel a little bit happier in this glum time I don't think so." Stefan said, along with their knowing that he had purchased a house and some of he furnishing that was in the house, his entire family knew of his budding friendship with the planet's heroine.

"Please dat? I'll be good, I'll not bug Rainmund or Annelise at all if you ask her to dry our yards." Thede started begging. "I'll eat all the veggies that are put on my plate. I'll even clean up my room if you call her."

"No, Thede." Stefan said sternly. "I will not be calling Miss. Irene, she is probably very busy with getting her house cleaned up from the quake or in keeping her sons in line or something."

"Daaaaat..."

"Thede, be patient. It'll only be a few days before it's safe for you to go outside." Stefan said.

As Stefan was telling his daughter to calm down and then started listening to her as she went on about her hope that the event that she was looking for forward to that happened both annually and close-by their house that was in Baden-Baden, Germany and as Lise Raskop was walking into Stefan's office with the Mocha oreo shake and the pretzel bits that her boss had asked her to go get for him Angel was trying in vain to get in some "Me Time" that she so desperately needed after the nerve-wracking morning, and the six days that had preceded that nerve-wracking morning, that she had just gone through. The week after the earthquake that the scientists and seismologists had all dubbed a "Freak" had not been an easy one for her, it had either been her fussing and fretting over getting the house back to looking the way it had before the earthquake had rocked the planet or she had been fussing and fretting over the welfare and relative safety and happiness of her five sons. It had either been her repairing the windows or vacuuming the carpets to get the glass that she had missed on her first house cleaning or it had been her going to check on her sons who had decided to reside in their little "Son Cave" while she cleaned house. After the morning that she had gone through she had decided to try to get in a little "Mom Relaxation Time" with reading the book that Guyunis had left at the breakfast table, it seemed rather sad that she had only been allowed to read 45 pages of the 384 page book in the near three hours that she had been home.

The Klieds had been very kind in letting her sons stay at their place while she cleaned most of the glass that had either exploded out of the windows or had come from the picture frames when they had fallen from their places on the walls but, she did wish that they would have controlled their oldest daughter. It had taken her all of four hours to get the kitchen and dining room floors, the living room and the hallways that were on the first level of the house and then the stairs and the second level's hallway cleared of all the glass and, in them four hours, Miss. Petra Klied had been driving Hazaar just about insane and she had also put Guyunis in a big funk. If she had decided to use her powers or a spell to clean the house up of all the glass that had been on the floors she would have gotten her sons home sooner but she had decided to do the house cleaning the old fashion way with a broom and dustpan and then a vacuum. After she had gotten most of the house fixed up for her sons she had gone to retrieve them, Bile, Lhaklar and Lazeer had been able to walk home on their own accord while she, and Mitzi Klied's husband, Kurt, had had to help Hazaar and Guyunis home. Kurt Klied had explained to her what all had happened between his daughter and Hazaar and Guyunis and then he had given her the scoop on her sons' injuries. The only reason why she had not marched back to the Klied's house to give Miss. Petra Klied a piece of her mind after she had gotten her sons back home was because she had been needed at home to tend and heal the injuries that her five sons had received during the earthquake.

She had gotten into a slight argument with her oldest son when she had gone to healing his injuries, he had pulled a Tough-Boy routine with her in saying that he didn't want her to touch any of the injuries that he had had on his body. She and he had argued back and forth over his injuries for all of fifteen minutes before she had decided to leave him, and his precious injuries aka Badges of Honor, be. She had moved on to trying to help Lhaklar with his injuries afterwards, while she had been tending the near five-inch long gash that had been on top of Lhaklar's head she had asked him why he had separated from his brothers during an event where they should have stayed together. She had not believed that her secondborn son had gone off running after Guyunis' cat but, alas, Lhaklar had stuck to that story and his brothers had even verified it. As she had been revolving the water that she had been working with her powers over the wound that had been on Lhaklar's head she had listened to Bile as he had told her about how Sabine, the cat who Lhaklar had run off after, had ran out of the house in front of him when he had been taking Guyunis out of the house. Guyunis had even said that Sabine had just "disappeared" afterwards so she had had to accept the reason for Lhaklar's running off in such a confusing and dangerous time. She had used Water Healing, one of the sub-abilities in the Elemental Water power, to heal Lhaklar's gash and, both sadly and surprisingly, only one and a half inches of the gash that had been on the top of his head had been healed. To that day, Lhaklar still had a four and a quarter inch gash on top of his head and he still had the bruises to his chest, stomach and ribs too, he had pulled a Tough-Boy routine with the bruises and she had just not been in the mood in arguing with him over them.

Guyunis had given her no lip or fuss when it had come to his turn to be healed of the one injury that he had had on him, he had just stretched his left leg out and then he had watched as she had started to revolve a black smoke around his right knee - that had still been swollen to twice its size four hours after the earthquake had died down. She had decided to use a move that she had learned via the scrolls that she had been given by a friend when both Bile and Lhaklar had been infants, instead of using the Fire Healing ability to heal Guyunis' knee she had used a Smoke Healing maneuver that the scrolls claimed was very little used and nearly forgotten in the art of using the elements as a power. Guyunis' knee had been healed right up, it had dropped in size and whatever had been wrong in it had been fixed up, he was not limping on it and he was not complaining about any pains that were coming off from that knee. She had gone on to Hazaar afterwards, he had had three broken fingers on his left hand and two broken fingers on his right hand and he had also had some cracked or bruised ribs, the healing of them injuries had been easy and she had tried to further help him with his left hip and knee which had really not gone as well as she had hoped it would. Hazaar could walk around now but he was still limping, he was staying strong and there was no general change in his attitude so she knew that he was doing fine regardless of his leg injury. She had moved on to Lazeer afterwards, her lastborn son had been compliant towards her wishes of helping him with his injury, he had actually perked up some when it had come to his turn to be healed of his injuries and, sadly, she had failed miserably in healing the one injury that she had spent nearly thirty minutes on in trying to heal. Despite using Water, Fire and Smoke Healing on the diagonal gash that went over her youngest son's left eye she had not been able to heal the wound, she had been able to close it up some and she had been able to clean it but the wound had just plain refused to be fully healed. Lazeer still had the diagonal gash over his left eye, it looked to be healing on its own which was good.

After she had done her best in trying to tend to her sons' injuries she had moved them down to the room that came off of the basement that they had made in August, she had gone back and forth from that room to the main house from the 4th to the 6th of October. On the 4th, she repaired the windows that were in the kitchen and living room and then she repaired the patio door with her Elemental Water powers. She had decided to do the house repairs slowly so not to upset the neighbors or anyone else that was in the neighborhood that she and her sons were living in, she could well of repaired the entire house in one day if she had wanted to but that would have made the neighbors all feel like crap and it might of also made for some right bad rumors to fly around about how stingy she was. On the 5th, she repaired the windows that were in her sons' rooms and she had also done a few spells to make the things that her sons had had in their rooms that had broke during the quake go back to the way they had before the quake had happened - the glass cages and the lights that had been on the glass cages that were in Hazaar's and Lazeer's bedrooms had, curiously, not been damaged during the quake so she had not had to bother with chasing after and then capturing any of her younger sons' pets. The last repair to the house had happened on the 6th when she had repaired the window that was in her bedroom. The days that had followed had been sort of hectic for her, she had made her rounds of the neighborhood asking if the neighbors wanted any help in repairing any of their windows. Nearly everybody that had been on her street had said yes, she had repaired the windows in all but two of the houses that were on the street that she and her sons lived on. On the same day that she had finished the repairs to the house and had started helping others in the neighborhood in getting their windows repaired her oldest son had started complaining about a pain in his left foot. His complaints over his foot had been on and off all of that day, she had figured that he had only been trying to get sympathy attention from her so she hadn't really thought much of it... until the following two days, that was.

Bile wasn't one who did a lot of complaining, he typically only complained about something when it got to him especially and he typically tried to act as tough as he could possibly be whenever he gained any sort of injuries on his body. When he had started complaining about the sole of his left foot hurting him on the 6th of October she had been concerned... for all of an hour, that was. He had stopped complaining about his foot for a few hours after she had started fussing over him and then, a few hours later he had started complaining about his foot again. The idea of his only pulling the on and then off phantom-pain complaints to get attention from her had popped into her head and she had started ignoring her son when he had started back up with the foot complaints again for the third time that day. Bile's complaints had increased the day after and she had, at first, ignored them. When she had called her boys to the dining room for lunch she had stopped the complaint ignoring, she had started worrying about her son when she had seen that he was having a rather difficult time walking on his left foot. By the time her oldest son had gone up to bed he had hardly been able to walk on that foot. On the 8th of October she had finally decided to take a look at his foot and what she had seen had made her mind turn cartwheels. The underside of her son's left foot, which was yellow like the rest of the left side of his body, had had a long scratch on it and the area that had been around the scratch had turned a white color. Her tough, macho man, son had had an infection of some sort going on with the underside of his foot. Right after she had seen the state of her son's foot she had started trying to get her car fixed up, her Porsche D2 had remained stuck where she had left it five houses from the one that she and her sons lived in for all of five days, she had not had a chance in trying to get it to work or in getting it moved to sitting in front of the house that she and her family lived in, she had done everything that had come to her mind to get the car to run and, sadly, it had just not turned on. Her son had gone through one more day of foot pains before she had finally decided to grab the keys to her sons' car, the drive that she had taken her son on to one of the medical clinics that were in town had been a quiet one, he had known the entire time what was in store for him and he had not been looking forward to it... and, honestly, neither had she. The doctor had taken one look at her son's foot then he had stepped back, the diagnosis of her son have three pieces of glass in the sole of his foot had been alarming to her and she had tried to be calm for her son because, right after the doctor had given his diagnosis on what was going on with her son, he had gone off for a razor blade, some cotton and some cotton swabs and a pair of tweezers. Her ears were still ringing, Bile had screamed practically for the heavens when the doctor had started working on his foot to get the glass out of it. Bile had a thick wrap of bandaging on his foot and he had some medicine to take that would take care of the infection that had formed in his foot. He was down in the "Son Cave", he was lifting some weights with Lhaklar at his side while Hazaar and Lazeer were with her in the living room, Guyunis was upstairs working on one of the model motorcycles that he had purchased at the start of the month.

"Hazaar, Lazeer," Angel said. "think you can turn the tv down some?"

"Yeah. Sure. Hold on." Hazaar said, he ducked low then he swung around Lazeer quickly. He had a gun-shaped controller in his hand that he was using to shoot the zombies and other villainous creatures that were in the game that he and Lazeer were playing on the game system that Bile had brought home from one of his visits to the dump that was in Au am Rhein.

"Zombie cow! Holy shit, I just shot a Zombie cow!" Lazeer exclaimed loudly.

"Man, this game has everything!" Hazaar said excitedly. "It's the Zombicalypse!"

"Ahem, boys." Angel said. "The volume."

"Look out, Hazaar!" Lazeer screamed when a zombified swamp monster jumped out at the character that Hazaar was controlling, the character that Hazaar was controlling wore a red checkered shirt and brown pants while Lazeer's character had a blue checkered shirt and black pants on.

Hazaar _seemed _to be trying to reach the remote control, he was within three feet of the thing but, like all teenage boys when they were playing a game on their game systems, he was really into the game that he and Lazeer had started playing sometime after their mother had left with Bile. The Super Dendy game system that they were currently playing had been discovered by Bile two weeks before, Bile had come home with the thing, plus several other game systems and some games that he had found... and a bunch of other stuff that he had just decided to bring home after he had spent most of the day at the dump that was in Au am Rhein. He had also come home smelling pretty bad and his eyes had been bloodshot so she had known that he had smoked something while he had been at the dump that had gotten him pretty stoned. He had gone straight up to take a shower right after he had come home and then, after he had showered, he had come down to where he had put the things that he had brought back from the dump. He had cleaned each and every little trinket and "treasure" that he had brought back before he had given them out. The dump trips and the bringing back of things that her sons had found at the dump was nothing new to her, they had started doing the little odd hobby in their childhoods and, when they had come back from their educations, they had continued doing it. She had one rule when it came to their bringing stuff back from the dump, it had to been cleaned and cleaned well. She did not want anything stinky sitting around in the house, her sons' little hobby had sure freaked Stefan Leinart out when he had paid them a little visit a week ago. The man had actually taken her to the side after he had found out about their little hobby, he had asked her if she was really okay with their trips to the dump or with their bringing stuff home from the dump. She had just told the man that her sons were just acting in regards to both their age and their gender and that what they were doing was something around the area of recycling; they were finding and then bringing things home to recycle and then put them to use in the house, she had told the man. The man had given her a long, quiet stare and then he had gone back into the living room where Lazeer had been playing a game on another of the game consoles that Bile had found and then brought back from the dump.

In all, Bile brought home three game consoles from the Au am Rhein dump that he had gone to two weeks ago. The Super Dendy, the third generation from the Dendy game console that had been developed and then released in Taiwan as a hybrid of the Nintendo Entertainment System, had come with six controllers - two of the normal, handheld type, two gun-shaped controllers and two joysticks - and Bile had also found a slew of games for the system that all worked and were in fantastic shape. The Nvidia Shield, a handheld game console that had been released on July 31, 2013, had been a surprise find for her son. The flip-up screen had had a small crack in it that Bile had fixed up and the back had needed some slight repairs to it but he had managed to make it look almost like new. Lazeer had discovered soon after the Nvidia had been fixed up that it could be connected to the tv, he had played on that device for nearly four hours after Bile had fixed it up. The Playstation Vita, the second handheld game console and the third gaming system that Bile had brought home, had been a bit beat up and it had needed a new screen put on it but Bile had been able to get it to looking like new - with Lazeer's help, of course. Lazeer was one who liked tinkering with the innards of electronic devices and he was also very smart in mechanical things. Most of the other things that Bile had brought home on the 25th of September had been small, he had been able to clean them and then hand them off quickly. She still had no idea what she was going to do with the porcelain dolls, they looked nice and they looked expensive... but she wasn't a "doll" type of person. Bile had handed her the dolls quickly after he had cleaned them along with a leather handbag, two purses, a coin purse, a dress and some shoes and then he had gone off to finish cleaning the other stuff that he had brought back.

Guyunis had accidentally left one of his novels on the dining room's table sometime after she had taken Bile to the medical clinic, when she had come upon the book lying on the table she had picked it up with the original intent of returning it to him. Instead of taking the book up to its owner she had decided to hold onto it, the idea of just sitting on the sectional couch with the book open in front of her had seemed to be a good one and... since she had been so busy that whole, entire week she had figured that she was due for a little "Mom Time". She had maybe two or three days more before she was slated to go back to work, she did have a hope that she would have at least one or two of those days to wind down from the week that she had gone through and, from the way things had gone in the near three hours that she had been at home and from the way things were looking now, it looked as if she was not going to be allowed to have any time to herself to wind down or have a breather from the week that she had gone through. Hazaar and Lazeer had the volume up so loud on the tv and they were screaming and yelling so much that it was next to impossible to concentrate on reading the book. Angel was just leaning over to grab the remote to turn the tv's volume down herself when the phone suddenly started to ring, with a sigh she closed the book that she had just not been allowed to read and then she stood up.

"Hello - Irene residence," Angel said after she had answered the phone.

"Angel," it was Stefan Leinart, the country's president who, from what the news claimed, had been office-stuck for nearly the entire week following the earthquake. "how's it going?"

"Exhausted, honestly." Angel replied. "Been right busy this week, like everyone else on the planet I do believe. Was hoping to get in a little bit of a breather after the morning that I've had, doesn't look like I'm allowed to do so."

"You sound exhausted and if my ears are correct it sounds like either someone has the tv on pretty loud in the background or you are being driven crazy by the kids." Stefan said.

"Your ears are correct in what is going on behind me." Angel said with a sigh. "Hazaar and Lazeer seem to be very enthused with this game that they are playing, they've been playing this one, particular, game for _hours _now."

"Just them two? Not all five? Think my wife would be very jealous if she was the one that you was speaking with. She has _all _three of our kids driving her crazy, the kids want to go outside but it's just too wet out for them." Stefan said.

"Yeah, just two... at the moment." Angel said, she then added. "Bile and Lhaklar are in that room that they and their brothers made in August, think they are lifting weights or something. Guyunis is upstairs, he said something earlier this morning about working on this model of a motorcycle that he purchased on the first of the month."

"None of your sons are out and about outside?"

"Until the ground is drier and more stable, no. None of my boys are allowed to step foot outside of the house." Angel said. "Think that is what every parent is saying to their kids, I'll probably be driven further up a wall in a few days. The video games and their model building will only distract them temporarily."

"Think you can keep 'em indoors for a week more?" Stefan asked.

The first thing that ran through her mind was that the man was up to something, she could detect the notes of a more important question on the tip of the man's tongue and she was both on edge and curious at the same time over what it was that he really wanted to ask her. What was it that he could possibly ask of her? Dry the front and back yard that his house was sitting on? Do a little reconnaissance work on that camp that was discovered a few days before that was south of the town that she and her family had moved to in August? Identify some of the people that were in that camp that was near the city of Rastatt? Yes, she knew that TazirVile had come to the planet and, yes, she suspected that he was the cause of the earthquake that the entire planet had felt. Lhaklar had gone to pieces when he had seen the story that had been in the papers four days ago, when the local news shown a clip on the camp that morning of her grandfather's ship barreling into a rather small airplane that the news had claimed had been a drone he had nearly jumped through the roof. She had had a time in getting her secondborn son under control, he had been rather upset over the camp's discovery and he had actually started shouting out orders for everyone to begin packing up their things for a hasty move. Lhaklar's main worry was over his father's finding out about Guyunis, he was scared that Guyunis would get hurt or worse, he had been worrying about his father not accepting Guyunis. She was worried about them two things as well, along with a bunch of other things, but she didn't want to add more fuel to the already blazing fire by moving her family. Besides the fact that Bile would need a few days to recover from the injury that he had had to his left foot and besides the fact that Hazaar was having a difficult time walking, she didn't want to ensue a panic among her sons and she didn't want the general community around her to become panicked over her and her sons' sudden disappearance. The risks were great if she and her family up and left; Bile and Hazaar's injuries being aggravated and they possibly getting new injuries, the possibility of a big confuse-for-all happening with her sons during the quick move and the possibility of the people that lived around her and her sons and even in the whole damn country of Germany panicking over the sudden disappearance of her and her sons after the camp's discovery. It was best that they just try to keep any and all attention directed towards themselves low as they tried to go on with their lives.

"If you're asking me if I can keep my sons indoors because of that camp that was found south of us I don't think so." Angel said. "I've already told my boys that they are to not leave the shield and I've already told them that they need to keep any attention that they are given by anyone to a bare minimum. My sons know what's in store for them if they disobey me in going out to check out that camp. And I won't be leaving the shield to check in on that camp either, I've got my sons to think of and worry over."

"Uuuhhh... no I wasn't going to ask you to leave the shield to look at the camp near the city of Rastatt and I wasn't going to ask you to keep your sons inside either." Stefan sounded slightly offended which made Angel feel somewhat ashamed of herself. Stefan went silent for two, long, minutes before he cleared his throat and then started speaking on what he really wanted to ask her about. "I was going to ask you if you and your sons wanted to attend this little dual-event that takes place near Baden-Baden next week. It's one of them holiday-appropriate events but there's also a secondary event where the adults can go and be adults without the kids being around."

"My sons never got to celebrate the holidays last year, too much was going on. What all is involved with this dual-event and where is it held?" Angel answered after a near minute long pause to give the question of her and her sons attending this event a think-over.

"You ever heard of the Alt-Eberstein castle?" Stefan asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe it is a set of ruins of the former Schloss Eberstein castle." Angel replied.

"You are correct, it was built as a primary residence to the counts of Eberstein in the eleventh century. It was nearly taken down in the sixteen century and then it was nearly demolished after the third World War but, thanks to some government officials and some townsfolk, the remains of the ruins was saved. It was given a slight rebuilding after the fourth World War so it now looks like it had before it had been nearly taken down in the sixteenth century." Stefan said as Hazaar was yelling about some Zombie that had leaped almost out of no where at his character. "One part of the dual-event that I mentioned to you a few minutes before is held there. Ever since my kids could speak in full sentences they have gone to this event, there's a haunted house set up in the castle that I'm told is scarier than scary and I'm also told that there is pumpkin chucking and carving and there is also a rather big maze for the kids to walk through and get lost in in the back of the property. That part of the event is specifically done for the kids that are above the age of eight."

"With all that you've just described to me you make _me _almost want to be a kid again." Angel said, she had nodded her head with each word that he said in describing the event that was held at Alt-Eberstein castle.

"Don't go wishing that just yet, the other event is held just for us adults." Stefan said. "It's set-up like a party, we can eat, dance, talk and there's also a little area that is set up outside where we can just sit and listen as the kids that are nearby scream their little hearts out while they go through the haunted part of the castle. This year, I'm told that there is a pool involved with the adult part of this event. It's recommended that we bring a swimsuit... or two since one of the activities scheduled for the adults this year is pie throwing."

"Haaah, when was the last time that I went to a little shindig like that?" Angel chuckled, besides the little parties for the movies that she had done the special effects for she had not attended any holiday events in a very long time. "Think I speak for more than myself in saying that we'd be honored to join in with the festivities. Is the adult-only part of this event held in Alt-Eberstein castle too or-..."

"The adult-only event is held a half mile from the castle," Stefan replied quickly. "we have a more modern setting. A hedge maze is included but it's not really set-up like that of the castle's."

"When is this taking place?" Angel asked. "What time?"

"A week from now, the sixteenth at sunset, it goes on until midnight but..." Stefan went quiet for a second before he continued. "my wife and I usually go and collect the kids at nine thirty, school-night and all."

"In Ebersteinburg, right? Is that where the Alt-Eberstein castle is?" Angel asked.

"Yes ma'am. Thirty minute drive for you and your family, nine minute drive for me and my family." Stefan said.

"All of what you've told me on this "dual" event sounds very nice, let me talk it over with the boys." Angel said, when Hazaar and Lazeer both started screaming at the same time over some grotesque monster that had just leaped out at them she said, "I'll call you in a few hours."

"Bye now, Miss. Irene. I shall speak with you soon. Don't let your sons drive you but so crazy now." Stefan said, they both hung up at the same time afterwards.


End file.
